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SCHOOL   COMMITTEES!!! 

TEACHEES  I  1  I 

LOOK   AT 

TOWER'S  GRADUAL  SERIES  OF  READERS. 
This  Series  was  made  as  all  School-Books  should  he,  hy 
.  Fractioal    Teacliers, 

conversant  with  the  wants  of  the  school-room  ;  hence  its 
adaptedness  to  supply  those  wants,  its  great  popularity  and 
its  complete  success.  So  valuable  are  its  exercises  in 
Articulation,  and  in  the  elements  of  Expression,  that  imi- 
tators are  appropriating  them  aud  claiming  great  merit 
for  their  books  on  account  of  these  Exercises  ;  boasting  of 
them  as  something  new  of  their  own. 

The  Beading  Lbssons  are  pure,  moral  and  elevating, 
adapted  to  the  gradual  progress  of  the  pupil.  All  flat 
translations  from  foreign  languages,  full  of  mawkish  sen- 
timent, and  all  improbable  and  false  stories  abounding  in 
the  wonderful  and  impossible,  with  which  many  late 
Readers  are  spiced,  have  been  carefully  excluded  from  the 
"GRADUAL  SERIES,"  as  unwholesome  food,  especially 
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The  Vermont  Christian  Messenger  closes  a  long  and  very 
able  review  of  these  Readers  tbust 

"  The  reading  lessons  are  models  for  the  formation  of  a 
clear,  pure,  forcible  stylo  of  English  composition.  But — 
what  is  of  the  utmost  value  and  importance — the  bearing 
of  all  the  reading  matter  which  makes  up  these  volumes 
upon  the  moral  and  social  character  of  the  child,  is  just 
what  we  would  wish  to  have  it.  The  authors  seem  to  have 
striven  to  make  a  series  of  Reading  Books  in  which  there 
should  be  '  no  line  that,  dying,  they  would  wish  to  blot.'  " 

The  superiority  of  these  books  is  acknowledged  wherever 
they  have  been  brought  to  a  practical  test.  The  more 
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ciate these  Readers.  So  decided  is  the  preference  for  them 
among  the  educated,  over  every  other  Bcries,  that  they  are 
gradually  but  surely  superseding  all  other  Readers  and 
going  into  general  use  in  all  the  best  schools  in  our 
country. 

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ER'S READERS,  wo  have  concluded  to  furnish  them  to 
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TOWER'S  FIRST  READER 06 

TOWER'S  SECOND  READER 08 

TOWER'S  THIRD  READER 12 

TOWER'S  FOURTH  READER 15 

TOWER'S  FIFTH  READER 16 

TOWER'S  SIXTH  READER 20 

TOWER'S  INTERMEDIATE  READER 15 

GRADUAL  SPELLER 06 

Address 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  CO., 

Publishers,  60  John  Street,  N.  Y. 

-   "...  .  i\f2C\S)QG*y\(K>/ 

■  •-         


JUST     PUBLISHED, 

TOWER'S 

GRAMMAR  OF  COMPOSITION; 

OR, 

GRADUAL  EXERCISES 

In  Writing  the  English  language. 

By  D.  B.  Tower,  A.  M.,  and  B.  P.  Tweed,  A.  M..  Professor 

of  Rhetoric,  Logic  and  English  Literature  in 

Tuft's  College. 


sPfijfli 


This  takes  hitherto  unoccupied  ground,  and  consists 
mostly  of  Exercises  in  grammatical  forms,  being  a  practi- 
cal application  of  the  principles  of  grammar  on  a  new 
plan,  to  establish  the  habit  of  writing  correctly.  After  this 
habit  is  fixed,  the  next  important  step  in  Composition  is 
Jlnangemtnt  This  is  taught  in  a  manner  entirely  new, 
giving  bat  one  process  at  a  time,  so  simplifying  the  work  as 
to  render  essential  aid  to  the  teacher  in  imparting  a  cor- 
rect and  systematic  method  of  thinking  and  writing. 
Writing  a  language  correctly  is  an  art,  and  can  be  attain- 
ed only  b j practice.  The  Exercises  in  this  book  are  prac- 
tical, not  profound  ;  adapted  to  form  the  habit  of  writing 
grammatically. 

It  is  prepared  in  a  manner  so  attractive,  that  it  invaria- 
bly delights  and  entertains  whilo  it  is  instructing  the 
learner.  Its  unprecedented  success  has  already  been 
established  beyond  a  doubt. 

The  whole  work  is  entirely  new  in  plan  and  execution, 
and  puts  the  subject  in  a  clear  light  and  on  a  proper  foot- 
ing.   Lot  every  one  interested  in  Education  examine  it. 

Frem  the  Ifew-York  Observer. 

0  The  plan  and  execution  of  this  little  book  are  admirable. 
It  is  designed  for  the  young  learner,  as  an  introduction 
into  the  art  of  "  writing  compositions."  and  does  not  deal 
in  rules — which  generally  serve  only  to  burden  the  memory 
with  a  useless  weight — but  begins  at  once  with  entertain- 
ing examples  and  exercises.  There  is  a  better  way  of 
learning  than  "  by  heart,-' — it  is  learning  by  practice^  and 
this  is  the  mode  of  teaching  which  the  experiencedautbors 
of  this  volume  propose.  We  give  no  new  book  a  warmer 
welcome  than  one  which  is  fitted  for  the  use  of  children, 
and  designed  to  lessen  their  early  difficulties  in  the  way  of 
acquiring  knowledge.  '  Going  to  school '  is  often  an  irk- 
some thought,  even  to  the  intelligent  scholar  j  and  any 
successful  attempt  to  lighten  the  load  of  littlo  learners,  is 
worthy  of  a  word  of  commendation.  This  is  a  well  aimed 
and  well  executed  book,  and  wo  doubt  not  will  be  highly 
useful  in  the  sphere  for  which  it  is  adapted." 

Price,  62%  Cents.  Single  Copies  sent  by  mail,  postage 
paid,  on  receipt  of  price,  to  the  Publishers, 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  CO., 

GO  Jolm  Street,  !VcwY< 


.:  'v. 


"NEVER  TOO  LATE  TO   LEARN!" 


FIVE  HUNDRED  MISTAKES 

OF  DAILY  OCCURRENCE 

IN  SPEAKING,  PRONOUNCING,  AND  WRITING 

i 

THE   ENGLISH  LANGUAGE, 

CORRECTED. 


"  Which — if  you  but  open — 
You  will  be  unwilling, 
For  many  a  shilling, 
To  part  with  the  profit 
Which  you  shall  have  of  it." 

[1'he  Key  to  Unknown  Knowledge. — London,  1569. 

"  It  is  highly  important,  that  whatever  we  learn  or  know,  we  should  know 
cokrkctly  ;  for  unless  our  knowledge  be  correct,  we  lose  half'ita  value  and  use- 
fulness."—  Conversations  on  Botany. 


NEW-YORK: 

DANIEL   BURGESS  &  CO.,  60  JOHN  STREET. 

1856. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  In  the  year  1855,  oy 
WALTON     BURGESS,. 
in  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the  Southern 
District  of  New  York.  . 


PREFACE. 


This  book  is  offered  to  the  public,  not  to  be 
classed  with  elaborate  or  learned  works,  nor  ex- 
pected, like  some  of  its  more  pretending  compan- 
ions among  the  offspring  of  the  press,  to  run  the 
gauntlet  of  literary  criticism.  It  was  prepared  to 
meet  the  wants  of  persons — numbered  by  multitudes 
in  even  the  most  intelligent  and  refined  communi- 
ties— who  from  deficiency  of  education,  or  from 
carelessness  of  manner,  are  in  the  habit  of  misusing 
many  of  the  most  common  words  of  the  English  lan- 
guage, distorting  its  grammatical  forms,  destroying 
its  beauty,  and  corrupting  its  purity.  The  most 
thorough  mode  that  could  be  adopted  to  correct 
such  errors,  would  doubtless  be  to  impart  to  the 
ignorant  a  practical  knowledge  of  the  principles 
of  language,  as  embodied  in  treatises  on  grammar ; 


]  V  PREFACE. 


but  such  a  good  work,  however  desirable  its  results, 
has,  in  time  past,  been  too  difficult  for  the  promoters 
of  education  to  complete,  and  is  still  too  great  to 
give  promise  of  speedy  accomplishment.  A  bet- 
ter expedient,  bearing  immediate  fruits,  has  been 
adopted  in  the  present  volume,  which,  while  it  does 
not  aim  to  produce  a  radical  reform,  cannot  fail  to 
render  great  service  to  those  who  need  to  improve 
their  usual  modes  of  expression,  and  to  be  more  dis- 
criminating in  their  choice  of  words. 

The  more  frequent  and  less  excusable  mistakes 
that  may  be  noticed  in  ordinary  conversation  or  cor- 
respondence, are  here  taken  up,  one  by  one — ex- 
posed, explained,  and  corrected:  They  consist  va- 
riously of  abuses  of  grammar,  misapplications  of 
words  and  phrases,  improprieties  of  metaphor  and 
comparison,  misstatements  of  meaning,  and  faults  of 
pronunciation.  They  are  grouped  miscellaneously, 
ivitlwut  classification,  not  so  much  because  of  the 
difficulty  of  devising  an  arrangement  that  would  be 
systematic  and  intelligible,  as  from  the  evident  fact 
that  a  division  of  subjects  would  render  no  assist- 
ance to  those  for  whom  the  book  is  specially  de- 
signed ;  for  an  appropriate  classification  would  ne- 
cessarily derive  its  features  from  the  forms  of  gram- 


PREFACE.  V 

mar,  and  with  these  the  readers  of  this  book  are 
supposed  to  be  to  a  great  extent  unfamiliar. 

The  volume  is  put  forth  with  no  flourish  of  trum- 
pets, and  makes  no  extravagant  pretensions  ;  yet 
the  publishers  believe  it  will  be  regarded  as  a  timely 
and  useful  work.  If  the  race  of  critics  should  not 
like  it — and  while  books  have  their  "faults,"  critics 
have  their  u  failings'1 — they  are  reminded  that  he 
who  corrects  an  old  error,  may  render  no  less  ser- 
vice to  his  brethren,  than  he  who  discovers  a  new 
truth.  If  the  work  shall  be  the  means  of  saving  one 
sensitive  man  from  *a  confusion  of  blushes,  in  the 
presence  of  a  company  before  which  he  desired  to 
preserve  his  equanimity,  it  will  not  have  gone  forth 
without  a  mission  of  benefit,  which  will  merit  at 
least  one  acknowledgment. 


INTRODUCTION. 


The  aim  of  this  book,  by  correcting  a  multitude  of  com- 
mon errors  in  the  use  of  language,  is  mainly  to  offer  assist- 
ance to  such  persons  as  need  greater  facilities  for  accurate 
expression  in  ordinary  conversation.  It  is  not  designed  to 
suggest  topics  of  talk,  nor  to  give  rules  or  examples  point- 
ing out  the  proper  modes  of  arranging  them  ;  but  simply  to 
insure  persons  who  often  have  a  good  thing  to  say,  from  the 
confusion  and  mortification  of  improperly  saying  it.  This 
chapter  of  introduction  will  not,  therefore,  be  expected  to 
present  an  essay  on  the  general  subject  of  conversation. 

It  may  be  remarked,  however,  by  way  of  admonitory 
hint  to  some,  that  the  most  prominent  error  in  the  conver- 
sation of  those  who  commit  the  most  blunders,  does  not  con- 
sist in  saying  too  little  that  amounts  to  much,  but  too  much 
that  amounts  to  little  ;  talkativeness  is  a  characteristic  more 
commonly  of  the  ignorant,  than  of  the  wise.  Shenstone 
says,  "The  common  fluency  of  speech  in  many  men,  and  most 
women,  is  owing  to  a  scarcity  of  matter  and  a  scarcity  of 
words  ;  for  whoever  is  master  of  a  language,  and  moreover 


b  INTRODUCTION. 

has  a  mind  full  of  ideas,  will  be  apt,  in  speaking,  to  hesi 
tate  upon  the  choice  of  both  ;  but  common  speakers  have 
only  one  set  of  ideas  and  one  set  of  words  to  clothe  them 
in, — and  these  are  always  ready  at  the  mouth.  Just  so, 
people  can  come  faster  out  of  a  church  when  it  is  almost 
'  mjPtyi  than  when  a  crowd  is  at  the  door  /"  But  although, 
according  to  the  old  proverb,  "  a  still  tongue  denotes  a  wise 
head,"  the  faculty  of  speech  should  not  be  neglected, 
merely  because  it  may  be  misused. 

Conversation  is  not  a  gift  bestowed  only  upon  those 
whom  genius  favors  ;  on  the  contrary,  many  men  eminent 
for  their  fluency  of  style  in  writing,  have  been  noted  for 
habitual  taciturnity  in  their  intercourse  with  society. 
Iiazlitt  remarked,  that  "  authors  should  be  read,  not 
heard !"  Charles  II.  of  England,  not  only  the  wittiest  of 
monarchs,  but  one  of  the  liveliest  of  men,  is  said  to  have 
been  so  charmed  in  reading  the  humor  of  Butler's  "  Iiudi- 
bras,"  that  he  disguised  himself  as  a  private  gentleman, 
and  was  introduced  to  the  author,  whom,  to  his  astonish- 
ment, he  found  to  be  one  of  the  dullest  of  companions.  On 
the  other  hand,  some  of  the  humblest  men  with  whom  one 
falls  into  company,  possessed  of  but  little  variety,  and  less 
extent  of  information,  are  highly  entertaining  talkers.  The 
particular  topic  of  remark  does  not  form  so  essential  a  part 
of  an  interesting  conversation,  as  the  words  and  manner  of 
those  who  engage  in  it.  Robert  Burns,  sitting  down  on 
one  occasion  to  write  a  poem,  said : 


INTRODUCTION.  9 

"  Which  way  the  subject  theme  may  gang, 
Let  time  or  chance  determine ; 
Perhaps  it  may  turn  out  a  sang, — 
Or  probably  a  sermon." 

In  the  same  manner,  the  subject  of  a  conversation  need 
not  be  made  a  matter  of  study,  or  special  preparation. 
Men  may  talk  of  things  momentous  or  trivial,  and  in  either 
strain  be  alike  attractive  and  agreeable. 

But  quitting  the  consideration  of  the  thought,  to  refer 
to  the  mode  of  its  expression,  it  must  be  remarked  and 
insisted,  that  to  "  murder  the  king's  English"  is  hardly  less 
a  crime,  than  to  design  against  one  of  the  king's  subjects. 
If  committed  from  ignorance,  the  fault  is  at  least  deplo- 
rable ;  but  if  from  carelessness,  it  is  inexcusable.  The 
greatest  of  sciences  is  that  of  language ;  the  greatest  of 
human  arts  is  that  of  using  words.  No  "  cunning  hand" 
of  the  artificer -can  contrive  a  work  of  mechanism  that  is 
to  be  compared,  for  a  moment,  with  those  wonderful  mas- 
terpieces of  ingenuity,  which  may  be  wrought  by  him  who 
can  skilfully  mould  a  beautiful  thought  into  a  form  that  shall 
preserve,  yet  radiate  its  beauty.  A  mosaic  of  words  may 
be  made  more  fair,  than  of  inlaid  precious  stones.  The 
scholar  who  comes  forth  from  his  study,  a  master  of  the 
English  language,  is  a  workman  who  has  at  his  command 
hardly  less  than  a  hundred  thousand  finely-temj^ered  in- 
struments, with  which  he  may  fashion  the  most  cunning 
device.  This  is  a  trade  which  all  should  learn,  for  it  is 
one    that   every   individual    is   called   to   practise.      The 

I* 


10  INTRODUCTION. 

greatest  support  of  virtue  in  a  community  is  intelligence; 
intelligence  is  the  outgrowth  of  knowledge  ;  and  the  almo- 
ner of  all  knowledge  is  language.  The  possession,  there- 
fore, of  the  resources,  and  a  command  over  the  appliances 
of  language,  is  of  the  utmost  importance  to  every  indi- 
vidual. Words  are  current  coins  of  the  realm,  and  they 
who  do  not  have  them  in  their  treasury,  suffer  a  more 
pitiable  poverty  than  others  who  have  not  a  penny  of  baser 
specie  in  their  pocket ;  and  the  multitude  of  those  who 
have  an  unfailing  supply,  but  which  is  of  the  wrong 
stamp,  are  possessed  only  of  counterfeit  cash,  that  will 
not  pass  in  circles  of  respectability.  The  present  work 
therefore  is,  in  some  respects,  not  unlike  the  "Detector" 
issued  for  the  merchants,  to  indicate  the  great  amount  of 
worthless  money  that  is  in  general  circulation  with  the 
good. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  all  the  mistakes  of  daily 
occurrence  in  the  use  of  language,  are  to  be  numbered 
by  "five  hundred" — possibly  not  by  five  thousand;  but 
it  is  evident  that  he  who  is  instructed  against  five  hun- 
dred of  his  habitual  blunders,  and  enabled  to  steer  clear 
of  ever}'-  one  of  them,  has  in  no  slight  degree  improved 
his  conversation,  and  thereby  increased  his  importance. 
As  a  prefix,  or  accompaniment,  to  this  catalogue  of  cor- 
rected mistakes,  the  presentation  of  a  few  rules  or  princi- 
ples of  language,  which,  strictly  observed,  might  guard 
against  numerous  general  classes  of  errors,  would  not  be 
thought  misplaced,  or  undesirable.     Some  suggestions  on 


INTRODUCTION.  11 

points  most  prominent  are  accordingly  given  among  these 
introductory  remarks — not  in  formal  statements  of  gram- 
matical rules,  but  in  examples  in  which  the  spirit  of  such 
rules  is  revealed. 

Not  the  least  glaring  among  the  many  misuses  of  words 
and  forms  of  expression  in  conversation,  occur  by  incor- 
rectly employing  the  pronouns — who,  which,  what,  and 
that.  It  may  be  remarked,  that  who  should  be  applied 
exclusively  to  persons.  Which  usually  refers  to  ani- 
mals and  inanimate  objects,  except  in  such  an  expression 
as,  "Tell  me  which  of  the  two  men  was  chosen?"  What, 
means  that  which :  thus,  "  This  is  the  book  what  I  want- 
ed," should  read,  "  This  is  the  book  that  (or  which)  1 
wanted." 

Among  intcrrogatives,  who  f  inquires  for  the  name ; 
vjJiich?  for  the  individual;  what?  for  the  character,  or 
occupation.  Thus,  "  Who  built  the  bridge  ?"  "  Mr.  Blake." 
"  Which  of  the  Blakes  ?"  "  Charles  Blake."  «  What  was 
he  ?"     "  A  distinguished  civil  engineer." 

The  title  of  a  small  book  for  young  people,  recently 
published,  was — "  The  Way  that  Little  Children  enter 
Heaven  :"  the  word  that  is  here  incorrectly  used  as  a 
substitute  for  in  which,  or  hy  which. 

When  this  and  that,  and  their  plurals,  are  used  in  the 
sense  of  tatter  and  former,  this  and  these  signify  the'  lat- 
ter, and  that  and  those  theformer.  Thus,  in  the  following 
couplet  from  Burns  : 


12  INTRODUCTION. 

"Farewell  my  friends,  farewell  my  foes, 
My  peace  with  these,  my  love  with  those." 

these  refers  to  "foes,"  and  those  to  "  friends." 

In  the  possessive  case  of  nouns,  some  instances  occur  in 
which  a  wise  choice  may  be  made,  but  in  respect  to  which 
usage  is  divided.  Thus,  we  may  say,  "They  called  at 
Walton's  the  bookseller 's,"  or,  with  equal  propriety,  as  far 
as  custom  is  concerned,  "  at  Walton  the  bookseller  s"  The 
iirst  form,  however,  is  preferable. 

The  use  of  the  hyphen  [-]  is  frequently  disregarded  in 
epistolary  correspondence,  occasioning  not  only  a  blemish 
but  a  blunder.  Its  importance  may  be  seen  by  comparing 
the  meaning  of  "  glass  house"  with  "glass-house;"  the 
former  may  mean  the  Crystal  Palace,  while  the  latter  is 
a  manufactory  of  glass-ware. 

Adjectives  are  often  improperly  used  for  adverbs:  as, 
"  extreme  bad  weather,"  for  "extremely  bad  weather." 

It  is  sometimes  difficult  to  choose  between  such  phrases 
as  "  the  first  three"  and  "  the  three  first."  To  say  first 
three  when  there  is  no  second  three  is  inelegant,  because 
superfluous  ;  and  three  first  is  absurd,  because  impossible. 
The  most  successful  pupil  in  each  of  two  classes  at  school 
would  not  improperly  be  called  "the  tioo  first  boys;" 
while  propriety  would  require  that  the  first  and  second 
boys  of  the  same  class  should  be  called  "  the^?'^  two  boys." 
As  a  general  rule,  and  easy  to  be  recollected,  let  "first'' 
be  first. 

The  use  of  some  for  about  is  by  many  writers  thought 


INTRODUCTION.  13 

to  be  awkward  :  as,  "  Some  fifty  years  ago,"  instead  of 
"  About  fifty  years." 

An  ambiguity  occasionally  arises  in  employing  the  ad- 
jective no.  Thus,  "  No  money  is  better  than  gold,"  may 
mean  either  that  gold  is  the  best  kind  of  money,  or  that 
gold  is  not  so  good  as  no  money  at  all  ! 

After  numerals,  the  words  couple,  pair,  dozen,  score, 
hundred,  thousand,  and  a  few  others,  need  not  take  the 
plural  form  :  thus,  custom  first,  and  finally  grammar,  have 
sanctioned  such  uses  as,  "  three  pair  of  shoes,"  "  nine 
dozen  bushels,"  "  four  couple  of  students ;"  also,  "forty 
sail  of  vessels,"  "  seventy  head  of  cattle." 

The  article  {a  or  an)  renders  an  important  service  in 
such  expressions  as,  "A  few  followed  their  leader  through- 
out the  long  struggle."  To  say,  "  Few  followed  him," 
would  •  imply,  unlike  the  former  phrase,  that  he  was 
almost  deserted. 

"A  black  and  a  white  horse,"  suggests  the  idea  of  two 
horses  ;  while  "  a  black  and  white  horse,"  refers  to  but 
one — as  if  written  "  a  black-and-white  horse." 

"The  red  and  white  dahlias  were  most  admired," 
properly  means  the  dahlias  in  which  both  these  colors 
were  blended.  "  The  red  and  the  white  dahlias,"  implies 
two  species. 

The  grammatical  number  of  a  verb  should  agree  with 
that  of  its  subject,  and  not  of  its  predicate.  "Thus,  the 
sentences,  "  Death  is  the  wages  of  sin,"  and  "  The  wages 
of  sin  are  death,"  are  properly  written. 


14:  mTRODTTCTION. 

In  changing  from  a  past  tense  to  the  present,  when  the 
same  nominative  remains,  the  form  of  the  verb  should 
continue  unaltered.  Thus,  instead  of  saving  "  He  was 
traveling  and  travels"  say  "  lie  was  traveling  and  is 
traveling. ," 

"When  a  verb  lias  both  a  singular  and  a  plural  nomina- 
tive, separated  by  or,  its  number  agrees  with  that  of  the 
nearer:  as,  "the  cup  or  his  billiards  were  his  ruin;"  or, 
"  his  billiards  or  the  cup  was  his  ruin," 

Custom — which,  when  crystallized,  becomes  grammar — 
allows  expressions  like  "The  linen  tears"  and  "The 
meadow  plows  well,"  although  they  should  net  be 
frequently  employed,  and  should  be  more  seldom  coined. 

A  fruitful  source  of  mistakes  in  language,  is  in  the  link- 
ing together  of  two  or  more  inappropriate  tenses,  or  in  the 
misuse  of  one.  Many  among  the  learned  and  refined  com- 
mit blunders  of  these  kinds.  A  few  corrected  examples 
of  such  are  here  given: 

"His  text  wras,  that  God  was  love  ;"  the  sentence  should 
be  written,  "  His  text  was,  that  God  is  love." 

"  The  Lord  hath  given,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away  ;" 
say,  "The  Lord  gave,  and  the  Lord  hath  taken  away." 

"They  arrived  before  we  left  the  city  :"  say,  "  they  had 
arrived" 

"  All  the  brothers  have  been  greatly  indebted  to  their 
father  :"  say,  "  are  indebtedP 

"This  painting  was  preserved  and  exhibited  for  the  last 
century  :"  say,  "  has  been  preserved  and  exhibited." 


INTKODTJCTION.  15 

"  It  was  the  last  act  he  intended  to  have  performed :" 
say,  "  to  perform." 

"  He  drinks  wine  at  dinner,"  means  that  such  is  his 
habit;  "he  is  drinking  wine  at  dinner,"  refers  to  one 
particular  time  and  occasion. 

Adverbs  are  often  inelegantly  used  instead  of  adjectives  ; 
as,  "the  then  ministry,"  for  "the  ministry  of  that  time." 

Of  the  phrases  "never  so  good,"  or,  "ever  so  good,"  as 
to  whether  one  is  preferable  to  the  other,  authority  is 
divided.  Modern  usage  inclines  to  the  latter,  while  an- 
cient preferred  the  former,  as  in  the  Scriptural  expres- 
sion, "  charm  he  never  so  wisely." 

Yea  and  nay  are  not  equivalent  to  yes  and  no  /  the  lat- 
ter are  directly  affirmative  and  negative,  while  the  former 
are  variously  employed. 

Of  prepositions,  it  has  been  frequently  said,  that  no 
words  in  the  language  are  so  liable  to  be  incorrectly  used. 
For  example,  "  The  love  of  God,"  may  mean  either  "  His 
love  to  us,"  or,  "  our  love  to  Him." 

Many  more  of  these  particles  are  inelegantly,  if  not 
ambiguously  used.  Instead  of  "the  natives  were  a 
different  race  to  what  they  are  now,"  say,  "  different 
■from.'''1 

"  He  was  made  much  on  in  the  country:"  say,  "  made 
much  of." 

"In  compliance  of  your  request:"  say,  "in  compli- 
ance with." 

"  He  doubts  if  his  friend  will  come,"  is  not  so  elegant 


1 6  INTRODUCTION. 

and  accurate   as,    "  He    doubts    whether  his    friend    will 
come." 

More  instances  might  be  given,  setting  forth  other 
frequent  errors  of  speaking  and  writing,  at  the  risk,  how- 
ever, of  destroying  the  due  proportion  which  should  exist 
between  the  size  of  a  work  and  the  length  of  the  Intro- 
duction. But  a  good  heed  to  what  has  been  said  in  the 
few  preceding  paragraphs,  will  enable  a  person  who  care- 
fully reads  this  work  to  mend  his  modes  of  expression,  to 
no  inconsiderable  degree.  It  is  well  known  that  there  is 
no  "  royal  road  to  learning,"  but  if  there  were,  it  could 
hardly  be  expected  that  such  a  little  book  as  this  would 
afford  a  passport  to  the  end  of  the  course.  About  two 
hundred  years  ago,  a  small  volume  was  put  forth  by  one 
"  John  Peters,  learned  scholar  and  author,"  which  had  the 
following  long-winded  title :  "  A  New  "Way  to  make 
Latin  Verses,  whereby  any  one  of  ordinary  capacity,  that 
only  knoios  the  A,  J?,  C,  and  can  count  nine,  though  he 
understands  not  one  word  of  Latin ,  or  what  a  verse  means, 
may  be  plainly  taught  to  make  thousands  of  Hexameter  and 
Pentameter  Verses,  which  shall  be  true  Latin,  true  Verse, 
and  Good  Sense !"  The  present  volume  must  not  be  ex- 
pected to  accomplish  so  great  a  result  as  this — not  having 
so  comprehensive  an  aim,  nor  possessing  so  great  a  secret 
of  success.  But  it  is  hoped  that  it  may  incite  some  who 
are  unfortunately  deficient  in  education,  to  seek  so  much 
additional  knowledge  as  shall  enable  them  at  least  to  con- 
verse in  a  dialect  which   is  within  the   compass    of  the 


INTRODUCTION.  IT 

language  of  their  country,  and  free  them  from  the  imputa- 
tion of  belonging  to  another  tribe  of  men,  speaking  another 
tongue. 

A  Welshman,  residing  near  Caermarthon,  who  was  sel- 
dom seen  at  the  only  church  in  the  parish  of  his  residence, 
was  one  day  accosted  by  the  worthy  clergyman  with  the 
question,  "My  friend — to  what  church  do  you  belong?" 
He  responded,  "To  the  Church  of  England."  "Ah," 
replied  the  pastor,  "  I  was  sure  that  it  must  be  some 
church  out  of  Wales/"  There  are  not  a  few  persons  who 
speak  the  English  language  about  as  truly  as  the  Caermar- 
thon Welshman  attended  the  English  Church  I 


FIVE  HUNDRED  MISTAKES 

CORRECTED. 


1.  "The  business  would  suit  any  one  who  enjoys  had 
health"  [From  an  advertisement  in  a  daily  newspaper 
of  Xew-York.]  Few  persons  who  have  had  health  can  Le 
said  to  enjoy  it.  Use  some  other  form  of  expression :  as, 
one  in  delicate  health,  or,  one  whose  health  is  had. 

2.  "  We  have  no  corporeal  punishment  here,"  said  a 
schoolmaster.  Corporeal  is  opposed  to  spiritual.  Say, 
corporal  punishment.     Corporeal  means  having  a  body. 

3.  "  She  is  a  notable  woman,"  as  was  said  of  the  wife  of 
the  Shepherd  of  Salisbury  Plain, — meaning  careful,  and 
pronounced  as  though  divided  not-able.  This  word  is  no 
longer  current,  with  this  pronunciation  or  signification, 
except  to  a  slight  extent  in  England.  It  has  become  obso- 
lete, and  its  use  now  is  in  bad  taste. 

4.  "  Insert  the  advertisement  in  the  "Weekly."  Empha- 
size vert,  and  not  ise. 

5.  "He  rose  up,  and  left  the  room  :"  leave  out  up,  as  it  is 
absurd  to  say  rise  down.  The  Irishman  who  was  hoisted 
down  the  coal  pit,  did  not  observe  this  rule. 

6.  "  Set  down  and  rest  yourself:"  say  sit  down  /  setting  is 
said  of  the  sun  in  the  west,  but  cannot  be  properly  applied 
to  a  person  taking  a  seat.     "  Sit  down"  is  not  improper, 


20 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 


though  "rise  up"  (as  in  Xo.  5)  should  never  be  used. 
Sitti/ng  down  expresses  the  net  of  appropriating  a  chair, 
while  sitting  up  means  sifting  erect.  Sitting  i/jj  also  refers 
to  watching  during  the  night  with  the -sick. 

7.  "  You  have  sown  it  very  neatly,"  said  a  seamstress  to 
her  apprentice  :  say  sewed,  and  pronounce  so  as  to  rhyme 
with  road.  The  pronunciation  of  sew,  meaning  "to  use 
the  needle,"  violates  its  spelling;  it  is  the  same  as  that  of 
sow,  meaning  "  to  scatter  seed." 

8.  "This  is  a  secret  between  you  and  I:"  say,  you  and 
me.  The  construction  requires  the  objective  case  in  place 
of  /,  which  is  in  the  nominative.  It  is  in  still  better  taste 
to  say,  "  This  is  a  secret  with  you  and  me." 

9.  "  Let  you  and  /take  a  walk  :"  say,  Let  you  and  me, 
or,  Let  us.  Who  would  think  of  saying,  Let  Lyof  The 
expression  "  Let  I  and  you"  is  frequently  heard,  which 
contains  the  additional  impropriety  of  putting  *the  first  per- 
son before  the  second. 

10.  "  He  is  going  to  learn  his  brother  Alfred  how  to 
knit  nets:"  say,  teach.  The  act  of  communicating  instruc- 
tion is  expressed  by  "  teaching,"  the  act  of  receiving  it  by 
"  learning."  The  distinction  between  these  words  was 
made  as  early  as  the  time  of  Shakespeare,  and  cannot  be 
violated  without  incurring  censure. 

11.  "John  and  Henry  both  read  well,  but  John  is  the 
best  reader:"  say,  the  better  reader,  as  best  can  be  properly 
used  only  when  three  or  more  persons,  or  objects,  are  com- 
pared. 

12.  "Thompson  was  there  among  the  rest."  This  mode 
of  expression,  which  is  very  common,  literally  declares  an 
impossibility.     The  signification  of  "  the  rest"  is,  those  in 


FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  21 

addition  to  Thompson,  and  of  which  Thompson  formed  no 
part;  he  could  not  therefore  be  among  them.  A  more 
correct  form  would  be,  "  Thompson  was  there  with  the 
rest," 

13.  "  The  two  first  cows  are  the  fattest,"  said  a  farmer 
at  an  agricultural  fair.  He  should  have  said,  "  the  first 
two  /"  there  can  be  only  one  that  is  first — the  other  must 
necessarily  be  second. 

14.  "  It  is  an  error ;  you  are  mistaken:"  say,  you  mis- 
take. Mistaken  means  misapprehended /  "you  mistake" 
means  "  you  miscomprehend." 

15.  "  ITave  you  lit  the  fire,  Bridget?"  say,  lighted;  lit 
is  now  obsolete. 

16.  "To  be  is  an  auxiliary  verb  :"  pronounce  auxiliary 
as  though  spelled  awg-zil-ya-re,  and  not  in  five  syllables. 

17.  February  :  this  word  is  often  incorrectly  spelled  by 
omitting  the  r. 

18.  The  "  Miscellany"  was  an  interesting  publication  : 
pronounce  miscellany  with  the  accent  on  mis,  and  not  on 
eel. 

19.  "  Celery  is  a  pleasant  vegetable  :"  pronounce  celery 
as  it  is  written,  and  not  salary. 

20.  "  Are  you  at  leisure  f"  pronounce  lei  in  leisure  the 
same  as  lee.     The  word  should  not  rhyme  with  measure. 

21.  "  John  is  my  oldest  brother  :"  say,  eldest.  Elder  and 
eldest  are  applied  to  persons — older  and  oldest  to  things. 
Usage,  however,  does  not  make  these  distinctions  impera- 
tive. 

22.  "The  cloth  was  wove  in  a  very  short  time:"  say, 
woven. 

23.  "  I  prefer  the  yolk  of  an  egg  to   the  white :"  the 


22  FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

more   common  word  is  yelk,  with  the  I  sounded ;  but  if 
yolk  be  used,  it  should  be  pronounced  like  yoke. 

24.  Sjparrowgrass :  it  is  only  the  grossest  ignorance 
which  confounds  this  word  with  asparagus.  The  same 
is  the  case  with  ing-uns  for  onions.  A  man  in  an  obscure 
section  of  ISTew  Jersey,  inquiring  at  a  country  store  for 
onions,  was  told  that  there  were  none  in  the  place.  On 
his  going  out,  the  storekeeper  turned  to  half  a  dozen 
idlers  sitting  round  the  stove,  and  said,  "  I  wonder  if  that 
'tarnal  fool  meant  ing-uns  /" 

25.  "  You  are  very  mischievous  :"  pronounce  mischiev- 
ous with  the  accent  on  mis,  and  not  on  chie,  and  do  not 
say  mischievious  (mis-cheev-yus.) 

26.  The  following  words  were  posted,  as  a  sign,  in  a 
reading-room — "No  Talking  Allowed;"  which  was  de- 
signed to  prohibit  all  conversation.  A  wag  altered  the 
inscription  so  as  to  read,  "  ISTo  Talking  Aloud,"  which  (he 
declared)  did  not  prevent  whispering,  and  chatting  in  low 
tones.  What  shall  be  said  of  the  following — "  No  /Smok- 
ing Aloud?" 

27.  "  No  extras  or  vacations ;"  [from  the  prospectus 
of  a  schoolmistress  :]  say,  nor  vacations. 

28.  "  He  was  never  known  to  be  covetous :"  pronounce 
covetous  as  if  written  covet  us,  and  not  covetyus. 

29.  The  Three  Il?s. — An  ignorant  and  vain  pedagogue, 
on  being  asked  what  he  could  teach,  replied,  "  The  three 
R.'s — ,ritin>,  'rethmetic,  and  readin\"  Any  persons 
among  the  readers  of  this  little  book,  who  may  chance  to 
be  schoolmasters,  are  warned  against  giving  such  a  course 
of  instruction. 

30.  "  Dearly  beloved  brethren  :"  when  beloved  is  placed 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  23 

before  the  noun,  as  in  this  instance,  pronounce  it  in  three 
syllables  ;  when  placed  after,  in  two  syllables,  as,  "  She 
was  much  be-loved  by  us  all."  When  used  as  a  noun  by 
itself,  it  is  pronounced  in  three  syllables  ;  as,  "  Be-lov-ed, 
let  us  love  one  another." 

31.  "  Not  as  Iknoio  :"  say,  that  I  know. 

32.  "  He  came  on  purpose  for  to  do  it:"  omit  for. 

33.  "  He  would  never  believe  but  what  I  did  it :"  say, 
but  that  I  did  it. 

34.  "  He  is  quite  as  good  as  me :"  say,  as  good  as  I. 
Also,  instead  of  as  good  as  him,  say,  as  good  as  he.  In 
both  these  instances  am  or  is  must  be  mentally  supplied 
at  the  end  of  the  phrase,  to  suggest  the  meaning ;  and  the 
pronouns  should,  therefore,  be  in  the  nominative  case. 

35.  "  Many  an  one  has  done  the  same :"  say,  many  a 
one.  A,  and  not  an,  is  also  used  before  »the  long  sound  of 
ui  that  is,  when  u  forms  a  distinct  syllable  of  itself :  as,  a 
unit,  a  union,  a  university  :  it  is  also  used  before  eu  :  as, 
a  euphony,  and  likewise  before  the  word  ewe:  as,  a  ewe: 
we  should  also  say,  a  youth,  not  an  youth. 

36.  "  How  do  you  like  these  hind  of  pears  ?"  say,  these 
kinds  j  a  noun  in  the  singular  number  will  not  allow  its 
adjective  to  be  in  the  plural. 

37.  "  You  should  have  went  home  :"  say,  gone. 

38.  "  John  went  with  James  and  I:n  say,  James  and 
me. 

39.  "  I  see  him  last  Monday  :"  say,  saw  him. 

40.  "  He  was  averse  from  such  a  proceeding :"  say, 
averse  to. 

41.  "  Have  you  shoolc  the  table-cloth  V  say,  shaken. 

42.  "  I  have  rang  several  times :"  say,  rung. 


24:  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES   CORRECTED. 

43.  "  I  Jcnow*d  him  at  once  :"  say,  knew. 

44.  "You  have  drank  too  much  of  it:"  say,  drunk. 

45.  "  He  has  chose  a  very  poor  pattern  :"  say,  chosen. 

46.  "  They  have  broke  a  window:"  say,  broken. 

47.  "  I"  have  just  began  my  letter  :"  say,  begun. 
4S.  "  Give  me  them  books :"  say,  those  books. 

49.  "  Whose  are  these  here  books  fn  say,  these  books. 
Here  is  superfluous  and  inelegant. 

50.  "  Who  do  you  mean  ?"  say,  whom. 

51.  "  The  men  which  we  saw  :"  say,  whom. 

52.  "The  flowers  what  you  have  :"  say,  which,  or  that. 

53.  "The  boy  as  is  reading:"  luho  is  reading. 

54.  "  It  was  them  who  did  it :"  say,  they. 

55.  "  It  is  me  who  am  in  fault :"  say,  It  is  I. 

56.  "  Was  it  her  who  called  me  ?"  say,  she. 

57.  "  If  I  were  her,  I  would  accept  his  offer :"  say,  If  I 
were  she. 

58.  "  He  has  got  my  slate  :"  omit  got ;  has  is  sufficient  for 
the  sense.  The  addition  of  got,  though  not  ungrammatical, 
hut  gradually  becoming  obsolete,  does  not  in  any  degree 
strengthen  the  meaning. 

59.  "  The  pond  is  froze  :"  say,  frozen. 

60.  "I  know  I  am  him  whom  he  meant:"  say,  I  am  he. 

61.  "You  cannot  catch  him:"  pronounce  catch  so  as  to 
rhyme  with  match,  and  not  ketch — as  the  fishermen  are  in 
the  habit  of  saying. 

62.  "  Who  done  it  fn  say,  Who  did  it  ? 

63.  "The  club  gives  an  impetus  to  the  ball:"  pronounce 
impetus  with  the  stress  on  im,  and  not  on  pe. 

64.  "  Spain  and  Portugal  form  a  peninsula :"  pronounce 
pen-in-su-la,  with  the  accent  on  in,  and  not  on  su. 


FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  25 

65.  Sar-da-na-padus :  pronounce  it  with  the  accent  on 
pa,  and  not  on  op.  The  latter  pronunciation  cannot  be 
changed  for  the  former,  without  incurring  a  gross  error. 

(}6.  "  He  must  by  this  time  be  almost  as  far  as  the  antip- 
odes :"  pronounce  antipodes  with,  the  accent  on  tip,  and  let 
des  rhyme  with  ease;  it  is  a  word  of  four  syllables,  and 
not  of  three. 

67.  Vouchsafe :  a  word  seldom  used,  but  when  used,  the 
first  syllable  should  rhyme  with  pouch  •  never  say  vousafe. 

68.  "  The  land  in  those  parts  is  very  fertile :"  pronounce 
fertile  so  as  to  rhyme  with  myrtle.  lie  in  such  words 
must  be  sounded  as  ill,  with  the  exception  of  exile,  senile, 
gentile,  reconcile,  and  camomile,  in  which  He  rhymes  with 
mile. 

69.  Benefited :  often  spelt  benefitted,  but  incorrectly. 

70.  " Gather  a  few. ears  of  corn  for  dinner:"  pronounce 
gather  so  as  to  rhyme  with  lather,  and  not  gether. 

71.  Purpose  and  propose :  these  two  words,  which  are 
often  confounded,  are  entirely  distinct  in  meaning.  To 
purpose  means  to  intend  ;  to  propose  means  to  offer  a  pro- 
position, 

72.  Directing  and  addressing  letters:  Directing  desig- 
nates the  persons  to  wrhom,  and  the  place  to  which  the  let- 
ter, as  a  parcel,  is  to  be  sent ;  addressing  refers  to  the 
individual  to  whom,  as  a  communication,  it  is  written.  A 
letter  addressed  to  the  President,  may  be  directed  to  his 
secretary. 

78.  "  Who  do  you  think  I  saw  yesterday  ?"  say,  Whom. 

74.  A  popular  proverb  is  expressed  in  the  following 
language :  "  Of  two  evils  choose  the  least  /"  say,  the  less. 
Of  no  less  than  three  evils  can  a  person  choose  the  least. 


26  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

75.  Exaggerate :  pronounce  exad-gerate,  and  do  not 
sound  agger  as  in  dagger. 

70.  Ladies  School :  the  usual  form,  but  not  correct  / 
write,  Ladies''  School.  The  apostrophe  (')  is  thus  used 
after  nouns  in  the  plural,  and  indicates  possession.  In 
the  singular,  it  is  placed  before  the  s,  as,  The  lady's 
school. 

77.  The  following  equivocal  notice  is  said  to  swing  out 
on  a  sign-board  somewhere  in  the  Western  country  :  "  Smith 
&  -Huggs — Select  School. — Smith  teaches  the  boys,  and 
JTuggs  the  girlsP     Suggs  needs  correction  ! 

78.  "  He  keeps  a  chaise  :"  pronounce  it  shaze,  and  not 
shay  /  it  has  a  regular  plural,  chaises. 

79.  "The  drought  lasted  a  long  time:"  pronounce 
drought  so  as  to  rhyme  with  sprout,  and  not  drototh. 

80.  "The  two  friends  conversed  together  for  an  hour:" 
omit  together,  as  the  full  meaning  of  this  word  is  implied 
in  con,  which  means  with,  or  together,  or  in  company. 

81.  "  The  affair  was  compromised :"  pronounce  compro- 
mised in  three  syllables,  and  place  the  accent  on  com, 
sounding  mised  like  prized. 

82.  "A  steam-engine ;"  pronounce  engine  with  en  as  in 
fen,  and  not  like  in;   also,  pronounce  gine  like  gin. 

83.  "Several  of  the  trappers  were  massacred  by  the  In- 
dians:" pronounce  massacred  with  the  accent  on  mas,  and 
red  like  erd,  as  if  massaker^d  /  never  say  massacreed,  which 
i  ■  abominable. 

84.  "  The  King  of  Israel  and  the  King  of  Judah  sat,  either 
of  them  on  his  throne  :"  say,  each  of  them.  Either  signi- 
fies the  one  or  the  other,  but  not  both.  Each  relates  to  two 
or  more  objects,  and  signifies  both  of  the  two,  or  every  one 


FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  27 

of  any  number  taken  singly.     We  can  sa}',  "either  of  the 
three,"    for  "  one  of  the  three." 

85.  "A  respite  was  granted  the  convict:"  pronounce 
respite  with  the  accent  on  res,  and  sound  pite  as  pit. 

86.  "  He  soon  returned  hack  :"  leave  out  hack,  which  is 
implied  by  re  in  returned. 

87.  "The  ship  looked  like  a  speck  on  the  edge  of  the 
horizon :"  pronounce  horizon  with  the  accent  on  W,  and 
not  on  hor,  which  is  often  the  case. 

8S.  "  They  were  early  at  the  sepulchre  :"  pronounce  sep- 
ulchre  with  the  accent  on  sep,  and  not  on  the  second  syllable. 

89.  "  I  have  often  swam  across  the  Hudson:"  say,  swum. 

90.  "  I  found  my  friend  better  than  I  expected  to  have 
found  him  :"  say,  to  find  him. 

91.  "I  intended  to  have  written  a  letter  yesterday :"  say, 
to  write  /  as  however  long  it  now  is  since  I  thought  of 
writing,  "  to  write''''  was  then  present  to  me,  and  must  still 
be  considered  as  present,  when  I  recall  that  time  and  the 
thoughts  of  it. 

92.  Superfluous  IPs :  Many  persons  pronounce  words 
which  have  no  letter  r  in  them,  exactly  as  though  they 
had  ;  as,  drawring  for  drawing  ;  "  I  sawr  Thomas,"  for  "  I 
saw"  &c.  Some  who  do  not  insert  a  full-toned  r,  do  worse 
by  appending  an  ah  to  almost  every  word  they  utter. 
They  would  do  well  to  recall  the  reproof  which  the  excel- 
lent Rev.  John  Gruber  administered  to  a  brother  in  the 
ministry,  who  was  guilty  of  this  habit.  That  eccentric 
clergyman  addressed  a  note  to  his  friend,  as  follows: 
"  Dear-ah  Sir-ah — "When-ah  you-ah  speak-ah  in-ah  public- 
ah,  take-ali  my-ah  ad-ah-vice-ah  and-ah  never-ah  say-ah  ah- 
ah  ! — John- ah  Gruber-ah." 


28  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

93.  Shall  and  will  are  often  confounded,  or  misused. 
The  following  suggestion  will  be  of  service  to  the 
reader:  mere  futurity  is  expressed  by  shall  in  the  first 
person,  and  by  will  in  the  second  and  third  /  the  determi- 
nation of  the  speaker  by  will,  in  the  j%*£,  and  shall,  in 
the  second  and  third.  For  example  :  "  Z  sA«£Z  (70  fo/  tf/w 
way  ^  Halifax"  simply  expresses  an  event  about  to  take 
place — as  a\so  you  will,  and  they  will;  Twill  expresses  de- 
termination— as  also  you  shall  and  they  shall.  Brightland 
has  the  following  illustrative  stanza  : 

"  In  the  first  person  simply  shall  foretells  ; 
In  will  a  threat,  or  else  a  promise,  dwells. 
Shall,  in  the  second  and  the  third,  does  threat ; — 
Will,  simply,  then,  foretells  the  future  feat." 

94.  "  Without  the  grammatical  form  of  a  word  can  be 
recognized  at  a  glance,  little  progress  can  be  made  in  read- 
ing the  language  :"  [from  a  work  on  the  study  of  the  Latin 
language :]  say,  Unless  the  grammatical,  &c.  The  use 
of  without  for  unless  is  a  ver}r  common  mistake. 

95.  "  He  claimed  admission  to  the  chief  est  offices  :"  say, 
chief.  Chief,  right,  supreme,  correct,  true,  universal,  per- 
fect, consummate,  extreme,  &c,  imply  the  superlative  de- 
gree without  adding  est,  or  prefixing  most.  In  language 
sublime  or  impassioned,  however,  the  word  perfect  re- 
quires the  superlative  form,  to  give  it  its  fullest  effect. 

96.  "  I  had  rather  do  it  now :"  say,  I  would  rathe/'  do. 
The  incorrectness  of  the  first  form  of  expression  is  very 
clearly  seen  by  cutting  out  rather,  leaving  "I  had  do," 
which  is  ungrammatical  and  meaningless. 

97.  An  obituary  notice  contained  the  following  ludi- 
crous statement:  "He  left  a  large  circle  of  mourners,  em- 


FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  20 

bracing  his  amiable   wife   and  children!"     Com/prising 
should  have  been  used,  instead  of  embracing. 

98.  "His  court-of-arms  is  very  splendid :"  say,  coat-of- 
arms. 

99.  "  They  ride  about  in  small  carriages,  which  are  called 
flies :"  write  the  last  word  flys  /  flies  is  the  plural  of  fly, 
the  insect. 

100.  "  Arictoria  is  Queen  of  the  United  Kingdom:''''  say, 
United  Kingdoms.  .Who  ever  speaks  of  the  United  State 
of  America  ? 

101.  "I  have  not  traveled  this  twenty  years ;"  say,  these 
tvjenty  years. 

102.  "Soldier  arms!"  Say,  " Shoulder  arms /"  The 
latter  is  frequently  corrupted  into  "  Sojer  arms/" 

103.  "  He  is  very  much  the  gentleman :"  say,  He  is  a 
very  gentlemanly  man,  or,  He  is  very  gentlemanly. 

101.  "  The  yellow  part  of  an  egg  is  very  nourishing :" 
never  pronounce  yellow  so  as  to  rhyme  with  tallow,  as  we 
so  often  hear. 

105.  "  We  are  going  to  the  Zoological  Gardens :"  pro- 
nounce Zoological  in  five  syllables,  and  place  the  accent  on 
log  in  logical ;  sound  log  like  lodge,  and  the  first  two  d's 
in  distinct  syllables  /  never  make  Zool  one  syllable. 

106.  "He  strived  to  obtain  an  appointment:"  say, 
strove. 

107.  "  He  always  preaches  extempore  ;"  pronounce  ex- 
it i m  pore  in  four  syllables,  with  the  accent  on  tern,  and  never 
ii>  three,  making  pore  to  rhyme  with  sore — but  with  story. 

108.  "  Allow  me  to  suggest ;"  pronounce  sug  so  as  to 
rhyme  with  mug,  and  gest  like  jest  f  never  say  sudjest. 

109.  "That  building  is  an  episcopal  chapel :"  pronounce 


30  FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES   CORRECTED. 

episcopal  with  the  accent  on  the  second  syllable,  and  not 
on  co. 

110.  "  The  Emperor  of  Russia  is  &  formidable  sovereign  :" 
pronounce  formidable,  with  the  accent  on  for,  and  not  on 
mid. 

111.  Before  the  words  heir,  herb,  honest,  honor,  and  hour, 
•  and  their  compounds,  instead  of  the  article  a,  we  make  use 

of  an,  as  the  h  is  not  sounded ;  likewise  before  words  be- 
ginning with  h,  that  are  not  accented  on  the  first  syllable: 
such  as  heroic,  historical,  hypothesis,  &c,  as,  "  an  heroic 
action;"  "  an  historical  work  ;"  "  an  hypothesis  that  can 
scarcely  be  allowed."  The  letter  h  is  seldom  mute  at  the  be- 
ginning of  a  word ;  but  from  the  negligence  of  tutors,  and 
the  inattention  of  pupils,  many  persons  have  become  almost 
incapable  of  acquiring  its  just  and  full  pronunciation.  It 
is,  therefore,  incumbent  on  teachers  to  be  particularly  care- 
ful to  inculcate  a  clear  and  distinct  utterance  of  this  sound. 

112.  "He  was  such  an  extravagant  young  man,  that  he 
soon  spent  his  whole  patrimony."  This  construction,  which 
is  much  used,  is  not  so  elegant  as,  "  He  was  so  extravagant 
a  young  man,"  &c. 

113.  "The  girl  speaks  distinct:"  say,  distinctly.  Never 
use  Adjectives  as  Adverts. 

114.  "  The  accident  of  which  he  was  reading,  occurred 
far  from  Reading :"  pronounced  the  first  italicized  w<  >rd 

to  rhyme  v:\t\i  feeding,  and  the  other,  with  ivcdding. 

115.  The  combination  of  letters  ough  is  pronounced  in 
eight  different  ways,  as  follows:  1.  Thoug7t,  in  which  i;  i ! 
pronounced  o;  2.  Through,  pronounced  oo  ;  3.  Vloug/i, 
ow  ;  4.  Sought,  aioe  ;  5.  Cough,  off;  6.  Hough,  uff  ;  7. 
Borough,  ugh;    8.  Lough,  ok.      The  following  sentence, 


FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  31 

which  is  of  doubtful  authorship,  affords  an  example  of  each 
of  these  eight  modes  of  pronunciation  :  "  I  put  (1)  dough 
(6)  enough' \n  the  (5)  trough  near  the  (3)  slough  by  the  (8) 
lough,  to  last  the  clucks  that  I  (4)  bought  at  the  (7)  borough 
(2)  through  the  day." 

116.  "  I  saw  his  august  majesty,  the  Emperor  of  Hay  ti,  last 
August :"  pronounce  the  former  word  with  the  accent  on 
gust;  the  latter,  on  Au. 

117.  "She  is  quite  the  lady :"  say,  She  is  very  lady-lika> 
in  her  demeanor. 

118.  "He  is  seldom  or  ever  out  of  town:"  say,  seldom 
or  never,  or,  seldom  if  ever. 

119.  "^Ye  laid  down  to  sleep  :"  say,  we  lay  down,  &c. 
We  can  say,  however,  "  we  laid  him  down  to  sleep." 

120.  It  is  somewhat  singular,  that  while  tie  and  untie 
convey  meanings  directly  opposite,  loose  and  unloose  signify 
precisely  the  same  thing.  Loose  is  the  original  word,  and 
unloose  is  a  corruption ;  both  words,  however,  are  now 
sanctioned  by  good  usage,  and  may  be  indiscriminately 
employed,  without  offence  against  propriety. 

121.  "It  is  dangerous  to  walk  of  a  slippery  morning:"  say, 
on  a  slippery  morning.  But  the  expression,  "  walking  on 
a  slippery  morning"  and  all  others  like  it,  of  which  a  strictly 
literal  interpretation  will  not  give  the  designed  significa- 
tion, are  to  be  avoided.  They  often  excite  a  smile  when 
seriousness  is  intended. 

122.  "  He  who  makes  himself  famous  by  his  eloquence, 
makes  illustrious  his  origin,  let  it  be  never  so  mean:" 
say,  ever  so  mean.  The  practice  of  using  never  in  such 
phrases  was  anciently  in  vogue,  but  is  now  becoming 
obsolete.   (See  Introduction.) 


6'J  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

123.  "  His  reputatioD  is  acknowledged  through  Europe :" 
say,  throughout  Europe. 

1:24.  "  The  bank  of  the  river  is  frequently  overflown  .•" 
say,  overflowed.  Flown  is  the  perfect  participle  of  fly,  fly- 
ing  •  flowed,  oi'flow,  flowing. 

125.  "I  doubt  if  this  will  ever  reach  you  :"  say,  whether 
this,  &c. 

128.  "  It  is  not  improbable  but  I  may  be  able  to  pro- 
cure you  a  copy :"  say,  that  I  may,  &c. 

127.  "He  was  exceeding  kind  to  me:"  say,  exceedingly 
hmd. 

128.  "  I  doubt  not  but  I  shall  be  able  :"  say,  that  I  shall. 

129.  "  I  lost  near  twenty  pounds  :"  say,  nearly,  or  al- 
most. 

130.  "  There  were  not  over  twenty  persons  present :" 
say,  more  than.  Such  a  use  of  this  word  is  not  frequent 
among  writers  of  reputation.  It  may,  however,  be  less 
improperly  employed,  where  the  sense  invests  it  with  more 
of  a  semblance  to  its  literal  signification :  as,  "  This  pair 
of  chickens  will  weigh  over  seven  pounds."  Even  in  this 
case,  it  is  better  to  say  more  than. 

131.  "  Bills  are  requested  to  be  paid  quarterly  :"  the 
bills  are  not  requested,  but  the  persons  who  owe  them.  Say 
instead,  It  is  requested,  that  bills  be  paid  quarterly. 

132.  "  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  he  will  succeed  :" 
omit  but. 

133.  "  It  was  no  use  ashing  him  any  more  questions  :" 
say,  of  no  use  to  ash  him,  or  there  was  no  use  in  ash- 
ing, &c. 

134.  "The  Americans  said  they  had  no  right  to  pay 
taxes."     [From  a  Fourth  of  July  Oration.]     They  certainly 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  oj 

had  a  right  to  pay  them,  if  they  wished.  "What  the 
speaker  meant  was,  they  were  under  no  obligation  to  pay, 
or,  they  to  ere  not  bound  to  pay. 

135.  "He  intends  to  stop  at  home  for  a  few  days:"  it 
is  more  elegant  to  say  stay.  If  the  time,  however,  should 
be  very  brief,  stop  would  better  express  the  idea ;  as, 
."We  stopped  at  Elmira  about  twenty  minutes." 

136.  "At  this  time,  I  grew  my  own  corn:"  say,  1  raised. 
Farmers  have  made  this  innovation  against  good  taste  ; 
but  for  what  reason,  it  is  not  apparent ;  there  seems  to  be 
no  sufficient  occasion  for  so  awkward  a  substitute  for  raised. 

137.  "  Having  incautiously  laid  down  on  the  damp  grass, 
he  caught  a  severe  cold :"   say,  lain  down. 

138.  "We  suifered  no  other  inconvenience  but  that 
arising  from  the  rain:"  say,  than  that,  &c.  But,  to  be 
properly  used  in  this  sentence,  would  require  the  omission 
of  other. 

•139.  "  Brutus  and  Aruns  killed  one  another  ;"  say,  each 
other,  which  is  more  proper.  But  many  similar  instances 
which  occur  in  the  New  Testament,  as,  "  Beloved,  love  one 
another,"  and  others  no  less  beautiful  and  cherished,  have 
rendered  this  form  of  expression  common,  and  almost  un- 
exceptionable. 

140.  In  a  recently  issued  work  on  Arithmetic,  the  fol- 
lowing is  given :  "  If  for  72  cents  I  can  buy  9  lbs.  of  rai- 
sins, how  much  can  I  purchase  for  $14  49?"  say,  "what 
quantity  can  I,"  &c.  Who  would  think  of  saying,  "  how 
much  raisins  f " 

141.  Words  to  be  Carefully  Distinguished. — Be  very 
careful  to  distinguish  between  indite  and  indict  (the  former 
meaning  to  write,  and  the  latter  to  accuse) ;  hey  and  quay  / 


34  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

principle  and  principal;  marshal  and  martial;  counsel 
and  council;  counsellor  and  councillor  ;  fort  and  fori  ; 
(J raft  and  draught;  ]>laee  and  plaice  (the  latter  being  the 
name  of  a  fish);  stake  and  steak;  satire  and  satyr;  sta- 
tionery and  stationary  ;  ton  and  fam/  Ze-yy  and  levee  ;  fo- 
ment and  ferment ;  fomentation  anil  fermentation  ;  petition 
and  partition ;  Francis  and  Frances  ;  dose  and  dose;  <f/- 
wrse  and  divers;  device  and  devise;  wary  and  weary  ; 
salary  and  celery  ;  radish  and  reddish  ;  treble  and  fo^fe  / 
broach  and  brooch ;  ingenious  and  ingenuous ;  prophesy 
and  prophecy  (some  clergymen  sounding  the  final  syllable 
of  the  latter  word  fo?i<7,  like  the  former)  ;  fondling  and 
foundling ;  lightning  and  lightening  ;  genus  and  genius  ; 
desert  and  dessert ;  currier  and  courier  ;  pillow  and  pillar  ; 
executer  and  executor  (the  former  being  the  regular  noun 
from  the  verb  "  to  execute"  and  the  latter  a  strictly  fe^a2 
term);  ridicule  and  reticule;  lineament  and  liniment; 
t/rack  and  tfractf  /  lickerish  and  licorice  {lickerish  signify- 
ing dainty,  and  licorice  being  a  plant,  or  preparation  from 
it) ;  statute  and  statue ;  ordinance  and  ordnance;  lease  and 
leash  ;  recourse  and  resource ;  straight  and  sfrmtf  {straight 
meaning  direct,  and  strait, narrow) ;  immerye  and  emerge; 
style  and  stile;  compliment  and  complement;  bass  and 
&#S6  /  contagious  and  contiguous  ;  eminent  and  imminent ; 
eruption  and  irruption;  precedent  and  president;  r, 
and  relict. 

142.  "  The  number  of  emigrants  arriving  in  this  country 
is  increasing  and  alarming  :"  say,  immigrants.  Emi- 
grants are  those  grow?^  <wtf  from  a  country  ;  immigrants, 
those  coming  into  it. 

143.  "  I  prefer  radishes  to  cucumbers :"  pronounce  ?m?- 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  35 

ishes  exactly  as  spelt,  and  not  redishes  /  also,  the  first  syl- 
lable of  cucumber  like  fu  in  fuel,  and  not  as  if  the  word 
were  spelled  cowcumber.  % 

144.  "  The  two  last  letters  were  dated  from  Calcutta :" 
say,  the  last  two,  &c. 

145.  "  The  soil  in  those  islands  is  so  very  thin,  that  lit- 
tle is  produced  in  them  beside  cocoa-nut  trees  :"  "  beside 
cocoa-nut  trees"  means  strictly  alongside,  or  by  the  side,  of 
them.  Besides,  or  except,  should  be  used.  Besides  also 
signifies  in  addition  to:  as,  "I  sat  beside  the  President, 
and  conversed  with  him  besides." 

146.  "  He  could  neither  read  nor  write  /"  say,  more 
properly,  write  nor  read.  All  persons  who  can  write  can 
read,  but  not  all  who  read  can  write.  This  sentence,  as 
corrected,  is  much  stronger  than  in  the  other  form. 

147.  "  He  was  bred  and  born  among  the  hills  of  the 
Hudson  :"  say,  born  and  bred,  which  is  the  natural  order. 

148.  "  This  House  To  Let  :"  more  properly,  to  be  let. 

149.  Here,  there,  where,  with  verbs  of  motion,  are  gen- 
erally better  than  hither,  thither,  whither ;  as,  "  Come 
here  y  Go  there."  Hither,  thither,  and  whither,  which 
were  used  formerly,  are  now  considered  stiff  and  inele- 
gant. 

150.  "As  far  as  I  am  able  to  judge,  the  book  is  well 
written  :"  say,  So  far  as,  &c. 

151.  "  It  is  doubtful  whether  he  will  act  fairly  or  no  :" 
say,  fairly  or  not. 

152.  "  The  camelopard  is  the  tallest  of  known  animals  :" 
pronounce  camelojxcrd  with  the  accent  on  met  /  never  say 
camel  leopard.  Few  words,  by  being  mispronounced,  oc- 
casion greater  blunders  than  this  term. 


36  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

153.  "  He  ran  again  me;"  or,  "I  stood  again  the  hy- 
drant :-''  say,  against.  This  word  is  frequently  and  inele- 
gantly abbreviated,  in  pronunciation,  into  agin. 

154.  u  JSfo  one  should  incur  censure  for  being  careful  of 
their  good  character  :"  say,  of  his  (or  her). 

155.  "  The  yacht  capsized  in  rounding  the  stake-boat,  and 
the  helmsman  was  d  rownded  :"  say,  drowned. 

156.  "  Jalap  will  be  of  service  to  you  :"  pronounce  the 
word  as  it  is  spelled,  never  saying  jollop. 

157.  The  word  curiosity,  though  a  very  common  term, 
and  one  that  should  be  correctly  pronounced  by  every- 
body, is  frequently  called  curosity. 

158.  "  He  has  just  set  out  to  take  a  tour  .*"  pronounce 
tour  so  as  to  rhyme  with  poor.  Be  careful  to  avoid  say- 
ing, take  a  tower  /  such  a  pronunciation  might  suggest 
the  Mamelon,  instead  of  a  trip  of  travel. 

159.  "  The  storm  is  ceased,  and  the  sky  is  clear  :"  say,  has 
ceased. 

160.  "  Do  you  know  who  this  -dog-headed  cane  belongs 
to  2"  say,  whom.  In  expressing  in  writing  the  idea  con- 
veyed in  this  question,  a  better  form  of  sentence  would 
be,  "Do  you  know  to  whom  this  belongs?"  In  familiar 
conversation,  however,  the  latter  mode  might  be  thought 
too  formal  and  precise. 

161.  "  Who  did  you  wish  to  see  ?"  say,  whom. 

162.  "  Whom  say  ye  that  I  am  ?"  This  is  the  English 
translation,  given  in  Luke  ix.  20,  of  the  question  of  Christ 
to  Peter.  The  word  whom  should  be  who.  Other  in- 
stances of  grammatical  inaccuracies  occur  in  the  Bible  ; 
for  example,  in  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  the  Saviour 
says :  "  Lay   not   up   for   yourselves   treasures    on    earth, 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  J7 

where  moth  and  rust  doth  corrupt"  &c.  "Moth  and 
rust"  make  a  plural  nominative  to  "  doth  corrupt,"  a  sin- 
gular verb.  The  following,  however,  is  correct:  "  But  lay 
up  far  yourselves  treasures  in  heaven,  where  neither  moth 
nor  rust  doth  corrupt." 

163.  The  word  chimney  is  sometimes  called  incorrectly 
chimley  and  chimbley. 

164.  "  I  was  walking  towards  home:"  pronounce  tow- 
ards so  as  to  rhyme  with  hoards  /  never  say,  to-war ds. 

165.  "  A  courier  is  expected  from  Washington  :"  pro- 
nounce cou  in  courier  so  as  to  rhyme  with  too,  never  like 
currier/  the  two  words  have  entirely  distinct  significa- 
tions. 

166.  "Let  each  of  us  mind  their  own  business:"  say, 
his  own  business. 

167.  "  Who  made  that  noise  ?     Not  me  :"  say,  Not  I. 

168.  "Is  this  or  that  the  best  road?"  say,  the  letter 
road. 

169.  "  Rinse  your  mouth  :"  pronounce  rinse  as  it  is 
written,  and  never  rense.  "  Rrnch  your  mouth"  said  a 
fashionable  dentist  one  <}ay  to  a  patient.  "You  have 
already  wrenched  it  for  me"  was  the  reply. 

170.  "  He  was  tired  of  the  dust  of  the  town,  and  flew 
to  the  pure  air  of  the  country  :"  say,  fled.  Flew  is  part  of 
the  verb  to  fly  •  fled,  of  to  flee. 

171.  "The  first  edition  was  not  as  well  printed  as  the 
present :"  say,  so  well,  &c. 

172.  "The  Unabridged  Dictionary  was  his  greatest 
work,  it  being  the  labor  of  a  life-time:"  pronounce  Dic- 
tionary as  if  written  Dik-shv/n-ctrTy  y  not,  as  is  too  com- 
monly the  practice,  Dixonary. 


38  FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

173.  "  I  should  feel  sorry  to  be  beholding  to  him  :"  say, 
beholden. 

171.  "He  is  a  despicable  fellow,  and  such  an  epitaph  is 
strictly  applicable  to  him  :"  never  place  the  accent  w  des- 
picable and  applicable  on  the  second  syllable,  but  always 
on  the  jwst. 

175.  "  Some  disaster  has  certainly  befell  him  :"  say,  be- 
fallen. 

176.  Carefully  distinguish  between  sergeant  and  Ser- 
jeant: both  are  pronounced  sarjant,  but  the  fanner  is 
used  in  a  military  sense,  and  the  latter  applied  to  a  law- 
yer. These  distinctions  are,  however,  observed  chiefly  in 
England. 

177.  "  She  is  a  pretty  creature :"  never  pronounce  crea- 
1  ike  erector. 

178.  The  following  expression  would  be  of  special  sig- 
nificance on  coming  from  a  surgeon  or  anatomist:  '"De- 
siring to  know  your  friend  better,  I  took  him  opart  to 
converse  with  him."  It  has  been  said  that  two  persons 
who  take  each  other  a/part,  frequently  do  so  for  the  express 
purpose  of putting  their  heads  together. 

179.  "I  am  very  wet,  and  must  go  and  change  ^myself :" 
say,  change  my  clothes. 

180.  "He  is  taller  than  me:"  say,  than  I. 

181.  "  He  is  much  better  than  me  :"  say,  than  I. 

182.  "You  are  stronger  than  him  r'  say,  than  he. 

183.  "That  is  the  moot  point:"  say,  disputed  point. 
The  other  word  is  inelegant,  and  nearly  obsoh 

181:.  "They  are  at  loggerheads:"  this  is  an  extremely 
unpoetical  figure  to  express  the  mutual  relations  of  two 
individuals  who  have  an  "  honest  difference  ;"  say,  at  va- 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MI8TABLES   CORRECTED.  39 

riance,  or  use  some  other  form  of  expression.     It  might 
just  as  well  be  said,  "  They  are  at  tadpoles  /" 

185.  "He  paid  a  florin  to  the  florist :"  divide  the  syl- 
lables so  as  to  pronounce  like  flor-i?i  and  flo-rist. 

186.  "His  character  is  undeniable:''''  a  very  common 
expression :  say,  unexceptionable. 

187.  "Bring  me  the  lantern:''''  never  spell  lantern — ■ 
lanthom. 

188.  "The  room  is  twelve  foot  long,  and  nine  foot 
broad  :"  say,  twelve /Iv/,  nine  feet. 

189.  "He  is  a  Highlander:"  never  say,  Heelander. 

190.  "  He  is  singular,  though  regular  in  his  habits,  and 
also  very  particular :"  beware  of  leaving  out  the  u  in  sin- 
gular, regular,  and  particular,  which  is  a  vei*y  common 
practice. 

191.  "  They  are  detained  at  France  :"  say,  in  France. 

192.  "  He  lives  at  New-York :"  say,  in  New- York. 

193.  "  He  is  very  dry  "  (meaning  thirsty),  is  a  very  com- 
mon and  very  improper  word  to  use  :  say,  thirsty. 

194.  "No  less  than  fifty  persons  were  there:"  say, 
fewer,  &c.     Less  refers  to  quantity  /  fewer  to  number. 

195.  "Such  another  victory,  and  we  shall  be  ruined  :" 
say,  Another  such  victory,  &c. 

196.  "It  is  some  distance  from  our  house:"  say,  at 
some  distance,  &c. 

197.  "  I  shall  call  upon  him  :"  say,  on  him. 

198.  "Remove   those  trestles:"    pronounce  trestles   ex- 
actly  as    written,    only   leaving    out   the   t  y    never 
trussles. 

199.  "He  is  much  addicted  to  raillery:"  in  pro- 
nouncing raillery,  leave  out  the  »y    never  say,  rail-le-ry. 


4:0  FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

200.  "  He  is  a  Doctor  of  Medicine :"  pronounce  medi- 
cine in  three  syllables,  never  in  two. 

201.  "  They  told  me  to  enter  in  .•"  leave  out  in,  as  it  is 
implied  in  enter. 

202.  "  His  strength  is  failing  :"  never  say,  strenth. 

203.  "  Give  me  both  of  those  books  :"  leave  out  of. 

204.  "  Whenever  I  try  to  write  well,  I  always  find  I  can 
do  it :"  leave  out  always,  which  is  unnecessary  and  im- 
proper. 

205.  "He  plunged  down  into. the  stream:"  leave  out 
down. 

206.  "I  never  saw  his  nephew:"  say,  nef-ew  ;  never 
nev-u,  or  nevvey.  s 

207.  "  She  is  the  matron :"  say,  may-tron,  and  not  mat- 
ron. 

208.  "  Give  me  leave  to  tell  you :"  never  say  lief  for 
leave. 

209.  "  The  height  is  considerable  :"  pronounce  height  so 
as  to  rhyme  with  tight;  never  hate  nor  heighth.  An  in- 
stance occurs  in  "  Paradise  Lost"  in  which  this  word  is 
spelled  and  pronounced  highth. 

210.  "Who  has  my  scissors  f "  never  call  scisso?'s,  sithers. 

211.  "He  has  obtained  a  good  situation:''''  pronounce 
situation  as  if  written  sit-you-a-tion,  and  do  not  say,  sitch- 
ii-a-tion. 

212.  "  I  had  as  lief  do  it  as  not:"  lief  means  willingly, 
gladly,  and  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  leave,  as  in  exam- 
ple No.  208. 

213.  "  First  of  all  I  shall  give  you  a  lesson  in  French, 
and  last  of  all  in  music  :"  omit  of  all  in  both  instances, 
as  unnecessary. 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  4  1 

214.  "  I  shall  have  finished  by  the  latter  end  of  the 
week  :"  leave  out  latter,  which  is  superfluous. 

215.  "  They  sought  him  throughout  the  whole  country  :" 
leave  out  whole,  which  is  implied  in  throughout. 

216.  "  Iron  sinks  down  in  water:"  leave  out  down. 

217.  "  A  warrant  was  issued  out  for  his  apprehension  :" 
leave  out  the  word  out,  which  is  implied  in  issued.  ■ 

218.  "  If  you  inquire  for  why  I  did  so,  I  can  give  a  very 
good  reason  :"  leave  owi  for. 

219.  "  I  own  that  I  did  not  come  soon  enough  ;  but  he- 
cause  why?  I  was  detained:"  leave  out  because. 

220.  "  I  cannot  by  no  means  allow  it :"  say,  I  can  by  no 
means,  &c. ;  or,  I  cannot  by  any  means,  &c. 

221.  "  He  covered  it  over:"  leave  out  over. 

222.  "  I  bought  a  new  pair  of  shoes :"  say,  a  pair  of 
new  shoes. 

223.  "  He  combined  together  these  facts  :"  leave  out 
together. 

.    224-.   "  My  brother  called  on  me,  and  we  both  took  a 
walk  :"  leave  out  both,  which  is  unnecessary. 

225.  "  Evil  spirits  are  not  occupied  about  the  dead 
corpses  of  bad  men :"  leave  out  dead,  which  is  altogether 
unnecessary,  as  it  is  implied  in  the  word  corpses,  "  corpse" 
and  "dead  body"  being  strictly  synonymous. 

226.  "He  has  gone  to  the  Lyceum:"  pronounce  Lyce- 
um with  the  accent  on  the  second  syllable,  and  not  on  the 
first. 

227.  "  This  is  a  picture  of  Westminster  Abbey  :"  never 
say  Westminister,  as  if  there  were  two  words,  West-min- 
ister. 

228.  "We  are  going  to  take  a  holiday."   this  word  was 


42  FIVE    HUNDRED  MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

Oiiginally  spelled  and  pronounced  holt/Jay,  being  com- 
pounded of  the  two  words  holy  (meaning  "  s*  I  apart")  and 
day.  Custom,  however,  has  changed  the  orthography 
from  y  to  i,  and  made  the  first  syllable  rhyme  with  Poll. 

229.  "  It  was  referred  to  the  Committee  on  Ways  and 
Means  :"  emphasize  the  second,  not  the  first  syllable. 

230.  "He  is  now  settled  in  Worcester:"  pronounce  as  if 
written  Wooster.  Gloucester  and  Leicester  are  pronounced 
Gloster  and  Lester.  The  termination  cester  or  Chester, 
occurring  in  the  names  of  many  English  towns,  is  derived 
and  corrupted  from  the  Latin  Castro,,  camps  ;  and  every 
town  so  named  is  supposed  to  have  been  the  site  of  a 
camp  of  soldiers,  during  the  possession  of  Britain  by  the 
Romans. 

231.  "  Relatives  and  Relations :"  both  these  words 
designate  kinsfolk,  and  are  in  most  instances  used  indis- 
criminately. Relatives,  however,  is  by  some  deemed  the 
more  proper  and  elegant. 

232.  "  What  a  long  li/rry  he  has  to  say  !"  This  word 
should  be  pronounced  and  spelt  lurry;  its  more  general 
meaning  is  a  "  heap,"  a  "  throng,"  a  "  crowd,"  but  is  often 
applied  to  a  long  dull  speech. 

233.  "  Diamonds  are  charcoals  :"  pronounce  diamonds 
in  three  syllables. 

234.  "Honor  to  the  patriot  and  the  sage:"  divide  the 
syllables  like  pa-tri-ot,  not  pat-ri-ot.  Irish  rowdyism  has 
been  called  "  Pat-riot-ismt" 

235.  "Do  you  believe  that  he  will  receive  my  letter?" 
observe  that  in  the  former  word  the  diphthong  is  ie,  and 
in  the  latter  ei.  A  convenient  rule  for  the  spelling 
of  such   words    is    the   following ;    c  takes   ei  after  it : 


FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  43 

all  other  consonants  are  followed  by  ie: — as,  deceive,  re- 
prieve. 

236.  "  He  is  now  confirmed  in  idiotcy ;"  say,  idiocy; 
the  t  in  idiot  is  dropped  in  forming  the  word. 

237.  "  He  raised  the  national  standard  :"  pronounce  the 
first  two  sjdlables  like  the  word  nation,  never  as  if  written 
nash-ion-al. 

238.  Principal  and  Principle :  be  careful  to  observe 
the  distinction  between  these  words.  Principal  signifies 
chief  ';  principle,  motive. 

239.  "  He  favors  the  Anti-Slavery  reform  :"  pronounce 
Anti  with  a  distinct  sounding  of  the  i  y  else  the  word  be- 
comes ante,  which  means  not  "  against,"  but  "  before," — 
as  "  ante-deluvian,"  signifying  "  before  the  Deluge." 

240.  Cincinnati  is  often  misspelled  Cincinnatti.  The 
name  is  derived  from  Cincinnatus,  a  celebrated  Roman. 

241.  "Her  dress  was  made  of  moire,  antique:"  moire 
antique  is  an  article  of  watered  silk,  very  well  known  to 
the  "  shopping  "  sisterhood,  but  very*  frequently  called 
"  Murray  Antique." 

242.  "It  was  mentioned  in  a  Calif ornian  newspaper :" 
say,  California  newspaper.  No  one  says  Philadelphian, 
or  Chicagonian  journal. 

243.  "The  lecture  was  characterised  as  a  brilliant  per- 
formance:" accent  the  first,  and  not  the  second  syllable. 

244.  "  This  is  one  of  the  traditions  of  St.  Helena :"  ac 
cent  le,  and  not  Ilel. 

245.  "  The  boy  was  found  by  a  tuashwoman :"  say, 
washerwoman. 

24('».  "St.  John's  is  about  two  days  nearer  England  than 
Halifax."     [From  an  account,  in  a  New- York  newspaper, 


44  FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

of  the  Submarine  Telegraph  Expedition,  September,  1855.] 
Does  it  mean  that  St.  John's  is  nearer  to  England  than 
Halifax  is,  or  nearer  to  England  than  to  Halifax? 

247.  "  He  wears  a  bine-spotted  neck-handkerchief ':"  say, 
neckerchief,  or,  still  better,  neck-cloth,  or  cravat.  The  ori- 
ginal word  is  kerchief,  and  not  handkerchief,  which  is  a 
kerchief  for  the  hand. 

248.  "  The  city  was  illumined  in  honor  of  the  victory  :" 
better  say,  illuminated.  Distinguish  between  the  pronun- 
ciation of  illumined  and  ill-omened. 

249.  "  She  has  brought  the  cloze  pins  in  a  bag :"  say, 
clothes'  pins. 

250.  "  He  met  with  luck  .•'.'  say  either  "  bad  hick,''''  or 
"good  luck;"  luck  primarily  refers  to  simple  "chance," 
although  its  derivatives,  lucky  and  luckily,  imply  only 
good  fortune. 

251.  "  The  in-va-lid  signed  a  deed,  that  was  in-val-id :" 
pronounce  the  former  "  invalid  "  with  the  accent  on  the 
first  syllable  ;  the^atler,  with  the  accent  on  the  second. 

252.  "The  duke  discharged  his  duty."  Be  careful  to 
give  the  slender,  clear  sound  of  u.  Avoid  saying  dook  and 
dooty,  or  doo  for  dew  or  due.  Say  flute,  not  floot ;  suit, 
not  soot ;  mute,  not  moot.  As  well  might  you  say  bute 
for  boot,  or  shute  for  shoot. 

253.  "  Genealogy,  geography,  and  geometry  are  words  of 
Greek  derivation :"  beware  of  saying  geneology,  jography, 
imdjo7)ietry,  a  very  common  practice. 

254.  "  He  made  out  the  inventory  :"  place  the  accent  in 
inventory  on  the  syllable  in,  and  never  on  ven. 

255.  "He  deserves  chastisement:"  say,  chas-tiz-ment, 
with  the  accent  on  chas,  and  never  on  Use. 


FTVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  45 

256.  "  He  threw  the  rind  away  :"  never  call  rind,  rin*. 

257.  "  His  knowledge  is  very  great :"  always  pronounce 
knowledge  so  as  to  rhyme  with  college,  and  never  say 
know-ledge. 

258.  "  They  contributed  to  his  maintenance :"  pronounce 
maintenance  with  the  accent  on  main,  and  never  say  main- 
tenance. 

259.  "  She  wears  a  silk  gown  ;"   never  say  gownd. 

260.  "  Maine  is  a  maritime  State  :"  pronounce  the  last 
syllable  of  maritime  so  as  to  rhyme  with  rim. 

261.  "  They  desisted  from  their  design  :"  pronounce  the 
former  s  in  desisted  with  a  soft  sound,  and  always  pro- 
nounce design  as  if  written  de-zine. 

262.  "  They  committed  a  heinous  crime  :"  pronounce  hei- 
nous as  if  spelled  hay-mis  /  never  call  the  word  hee-nus  or 
hain-yus. 

263.  "  He  hovered  about  the  enemy  :"  pronounce  hovered 
so  as  to  rhyme  with  covered. 

264.  "  He  is  a  poVerfnl  ally :"  never  place  the  accent 
on  al  in  ally,  as  many  do. 

265.  "  We  have  never  been  called,  almost,  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Apocalypse,  without  finding  fresh  reasons  for 
our  opinion."  [Such  are  the  words  of  a  very  eminent  re- 
viewer.] He  should  have  said,  "We  have  scarcely  ever 
been  called,"  or,  "  we  have  almost  never" 

266.  "  He  is  very  bigoted;"  never  spell  the  last  word 
with  donhle  t,  a  very  common  mistake. 

267.  "The  Weekly  Tribune  has  a  large  circulation  :"  pro- 
nounce Tribune  as  if  divided  Trib-une,  and  not  Try-hune. 

268.  "  He.  said  as  how  you  was  to  do  it :"  say,  he  said 
that  you  were  to  do  it. 


46  FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES   CORRECTED. 

269.  Never  say,  "  I acquiesce  with  you"  but,  "  I  ac- 
quiesce in  your  proposal,  in  your  opinion"  &c. 

270.  "He  is  a  distinguished  antiquarian :"  say,  a?iti- 
quary.     Antiquarian  is  an  adjective;   antiquary,  a  noun. 

271.  An  injudicious  disposition  of  a  clause  in  a  sentence 
frequently  creates  great  merriment  in  the  reading.  In  Gold- 
smith's "History  of  England,"  a  book  remarkable  for  its 
carelessness  of  style,  we  find  the  following  extraordinary 
sentence,  in  one  of  the  chapters  of  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth:  "This"  [a  communication  to  Mary  Queen  of 
Scots]  "  they  effected  by  conveying  their  letters  to  her  by 
means  of  a  brewer  that  supplied  the  family  with  ale 
(J: rough  a  chink  in  the  wall  of  her  apartment."  A  queei 
brewer  that — to  supply  ale  through  a  chink  in  the  wall! 
IL  iw  easy  the  alteration  to  make  the  passage  clear  !  "  This 
tlu-y  effected  by  conveying  their  letters  to  her  through  a 
chink  in  the  wall  of  her  apartment,  by  means  of  a,  brewer 
Had  supplied  the  family  with  ale." 

272.  "  Lavater  wrote  on  Physiognomy ;"  in  the  last 
wprd  sound  the  g  distinctly,  as  g  is  always  pronounced 
before  n,  when  it  is  not  in  the  same  syllable;  as,  indig- 
nity, &c. 

278.  "She  is  a  very  amiable  girl:"  pronounce  girl  as 
if  written  gurl /  gal  is  a  vulgarism;  gehl  or  gul  is  an 
affectation  of  which  many  polite  persons  are  guilty. 

274.  "He  built  a  large  granary:"  do  not  pronounce 
granary  so  as  to  rhyme  with  tannery.  Call  the  word 
grainary.  Both  pronunciations,  however,  are  given  by 
scholars. 

275.  Beware  of  using  Oh!  and  0  indiscriminately  :  Oh! 
is  used  to  express  the  emotion  of  pain,  sorrow,  or  surprise  / 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  47 

as,  "  Oh  !  the  exceeding  grace  of  God."  0  is  used  to  ex- 
press wishing,  exclamation,  or  a  direct  address  to  a  person  ; 
as, 

"  O  mother,  will  the  God  above 
Forgive  my  faults  like  thee  ?" 

276.  Be  careful  to  sound  distinctly  the  r  in  such  words 
as  farther,  martyr,  charter,  murder,  &c.  Never  say,  fah- 
ther,  mah-tyr,  chah-ter  and  muh-der.  On  the  other  hand, 
avoid  trilling  the  r,  as  mur-er-der,  r'r'rolher.  It  is  alto- 
gether too  tragical  for  common  life. 

277.  "The  Duke  of  Wellington  was  an  Irishman,  but 
knew  nothing  of  the  Irish  language  :"  beware  of  saying 
I&rishma/n  for  Irishman,  or  Ierish  for  Irish ;  a  very  com- 
mon mistake,  which  the  "  Know-Nothings  "  are  quick  to 
detect. 

278.  "  He  did  it  unbeknown  to  us  :"  say,  unknown,  &c. 

279.  "He  lives  in  affluence,  as  he  is  in  afflu-ent  circum- 
stances :"  beware  of  placing  the  accent  in  affluence  and 
affluent  on  the  syllable  flu  instead  of  on  of,  a  very  com- 
mon error. 

280.  "  If  I  say,  '  They  retreated  lack,'  I  use  a  word  that 
is  superfluous,  as  back  is  implied  in  the  syllable  re  in  re- 
treated :n  never  place  the  accent  on  flu  in  snjierfluous,  but 
always  on  j>er. 

281.  "  In  reading  Paley's  'Evidences  of  Christianity,'  I 
unexpectedly  lit  on  the  passage  I  wanted  :"  say,  met  with 
I  lie  passage,  &c. 

282.  A  gentleman  having  selected  a  book  from  the 
library  shelves  of  the  Mechanics'  Institute,  went  to  the 
librarian  to  have  the  volume  registered  under  his  name, 
and  said,  "  I  have  taken  the  life  of  Julius  Ccesar."     "1 


48  FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

shall  then,"  responded  the  librarian,  "  charge  the  work  to 
Mr.  Brutus !"  Be  careful  how  you  "  take  the  lives''  of 
distinguished  men. 

283.  "  He  has  a  bayonet  to  his  gun  :"  never  say  haggo- 
net.  This  error  is  a  peculiarity  of  the  Wiltshire  dialect,  in 
England.  In  an  old  Wiltshire  song  the  following  stanza 
occurs: 

"  A  hornet  zet  in  a  holler  tree, 
A  proper  spiteful  twoad  was  he  ; 
And  merrily  zung  while  he  did  zet, — 
His  sting  as  sharp  as  a  baggonet." 

284.  "  Aunt  Deborah  is  down  with  the  rheumatiz ;" 
pay,  rheumatism;  this  is  one  among  the  isms,  though  a 
very  unpopular  one. 

285.  "  It  is  obligatory  upon  every  honest  man  to  go  to 
the  polls  to-day  :"  accent  lig,  and  not  ga. 

286.  "  On  the  contra^ :"  accent  con,  not  tra.  The  old 
song  takes  up  with  a  bad  pronunciation,  for  the  sake  of  a 
good  rhyme: 

"  Mistress  Mary, 
Quite  contrary, 
How  does  your  garden  grow?" 

287.  "That  is  altogether  above  ray  bend:"  say,  out  of 
my  power. 

288.  "  He  has  absquatulated,  and  taken  the  specie  with 
him  :"  absconded  is  a  more  classical  word. 

289.  "  It's  eenamost  time  we  had  started:"  say,  almost. 

290.  " I  haven't  ary  one:"  say,  7"  have  neitJier,  or,  / 
haven't  either. 

291.  "That  man  is  in  a  bad  box:"  sax,  bad  predica- 
ment, or  bad  situation.  v 


FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  49 

292.  It  may  be  doubted  whether  to  say  of  a  man  "  that 
he  larked  up  the  wrong  tree"  is  a  complimentary  or  ele- 
gant metaphor. 

293.  "  I  will  retain  two-thirds,  and  give  you  the  bal- 
ance:" say,  remainder. 

294.  "  I  calculate  to  go  by  steam  :"  say,  "  I  expect." 

2,95.  Avoid  using  the  phrase  "  I  cave  in"  for  "  /  give 
up"     It  savors  of  slang. 

296.  Do  not  say,  "  chicken  fixings"  for  "  trifles"  or 
" extras"  connected  with  dress. 

297.  "  He  is  a  cute  man  :"  this  is  an  inelegant  abbrevia- 
tion of  acute,  and  employed  to  mean  smart.  It  may,  how- 
ever, be  properly  applied  to  Yankees ! 

298.  "  He  dickered  with  him  an  hour  :"  say,  "  he  bar- 
gained."    This  isa  word  somewhat  peculiar  to  New- York. 

299.  "  Do  don't "  is  a  vulgar  usage  of  the  Southern 
States,  especially  Georgia,  for  "  do  not." 

300.  "  He  is  done  gone :"  say,  ruined. 

301.  "  We  had  a  dreadful  line  time :"  say,  very,  or 
exceedingly. 

302.  "  It  rains,  and  I  want  an  umbrella  the  worst  kind:" 
say,  "  I  am  greatly  in  want"  &c.  An  umbrella  of  the  worst 
hind  would  not  be  likely  to  answer  the  best  of  purposes  on 
a  rainy  day ! 

303.  "  The  whole  concern  fizzled  out :"  say,  proved  a 
failure. 

304.  "  As  soon  as  I  mentioned  it  to  him,  hefiarcd  up  :" 
say,  he  hecame  excited,  or  grew  violent. 

305.  "  The  choir  sang  Old  Hundred :"  pronounce  Hun- 
dred as  written,  and  not  Hunderd. 

306.  "  The  message  was  sent  by  his  aid-de-camp :"  pro- 


50  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

nonnce  as  if  written  ade-dc-Jcawng,  avoiding,  however,  as 
much,  as  possible  a  twang  on  the  last  syllable. 

307.  "My  heard  is  long:"  don't  say  bawd. 

308.  "The  blacksmith  blows  the  bellows ;"  pronounce 
as  written,  and  not  bellus. 

309.  "  Let  me  help  you  to  some  catsup :"  avoid  saying 
ketchup. 

310.  "  It  is  new  China  ware :"  do  not  say,  chaney  ware  / 
this  latter  article  exists  only  in  the  traditions  of  old  women. 

311.  "  The  combatants  parted  in  good  humor:"  accent 
the  first  syllable — never  the  second. 

312.  "We  poled  the  raft  up  the  creek:"  pronounce  as 
if  written  Tank. 

313.  "Then  spake  the  warrior  bold  :"  pronounce  in  two 
syllables,  as  war-yur,  not  war-ri-or. 

314.  In  using  the  word  venison,  sound  the  i:  venzun  is 
a  common,  though  not  elegant  pronunciation. 

315.  Tapestry  is  divided  tap-es-try  and  not  ta-pes-try. 

316.  "  He  is  only  a  subaltern  :"  accent  the  first  syllable 
of  subaltern. 

317.  "  The  barge  is  at  the  quay  :"  pronounce  qtiay,  hay. 

318.  "  The  path  over  the  meadow  was  queachy  .*"  this 
word,  meaning  soft  or  boggy,  is  now  obsolete,  and  cannot 
be  used  with  propriety. 

319.  "  He  talks  puVpitically :"  this  word,  which  some 
who  copy  Chesterfield  persist  in  using,  has  never  by  any 
good  authority  been  admitted  into  the  language. 

320.  To  peff,  meaning  to  cough  faintly  (like  a  sheep), 
is  hardly  a  useable  word. 

321.  Be  careful  to  distinguish  between  pencil,  an  instru- 
ment for  writing,  and  pensile,  meaning  hanging  down. 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  51 

322.  To  yank  is  a  vulgarism,  meaning  to  twitch  power- 

'faUy> 

323.  Avoid  the  slang  phrase,  "  I  used  to  could."  Say, 
"  I could  formerly \" 

324.  "  She  takes  on  about  it  greatly  :"  say,  grieves. 

325.  "  He  staved  off  the  case  two  days  longer :"  say,  he 
put  off,  or  delayed. 

326.  "  He  made  a  great  splurge  :"  say,  he  made  a  Mus- 
tering effort. 

327.  "  I  reckon  it  is  going  to  rain  :"  say,  I  think,  or  ex- 
pect.   JRecTcon  applies  to  calculation. 

328.  "  The  basket  is  pretty  large :"  avoid,  if  possible,  the 
use  of  the  word  pretty  out  of  its  legitimate  signification ; 
the  language  abounds  with  substitutes  more  elegant. 

329.  "  She  weighs  a  plaguy  sight:"  say,  a  great  deal. 

330.  "  He  made  tracks  at  sundown  :"  say,  he  left,  or  es- 
caped. 

331.  "  He  was  compelled  to  fork  over  the  cash :"  say, 
to  pay  over. 

332.  "  To  flunk  out  "  is  a  vulgar  expression  for  to  retire 
through  fear  •  the  most  that  can  be  tolerated  is,  to  sneak 
out. 

333.  "  "When  last  observed,  he  was  going  at  full  chisel:" 
say,  at  the  top  of  his  speed. 

334.  "  That  bill  is  a  counterfeit :"  the  last  syllable  is 
pronounced  as  if  written^,  and  Vioifeet. 

335.  "  I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  :"  do  not  say 
obleeged. 

336.  The  following  sentence  affords  an  example  of  three 
words  of  similar  pronunciation,  but  different  signification  : 
"  It  is  not  easy  to  pare  a  pear  with  a  pair  of  scissors." 


52  KITE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    COEUECTED. 

337.  "  Tlie  robber  entered  the  dwelling,  and  secretly 
carried  off  the  silver:"  say,  thief;  a  robber  attacks  vio- 
lently, and  commits  his  depredations  by  main  force ;  a 
thief  is  one  who  uses  secrecy  and  deception. 

338.  "  Go  and  fetch  me  my  riding-whip  :"  say,  brmg. 
Fetch  means  to  go  and  bring;  go  and  fetch  is  repeti- 
tion. 

339.  To  leave  and  to  quit  are  often  used  as  synonymous 
terms,  though  improperly  ;  to  leave  implies  a  design  of 
returning  soon — to  quit,  ah  absence  of  a  long  time,  or 
forever  ;  as,  in  Shakespeare  : — 

" the  very  rats 


Instinctively  had  quit  it." — Tempest,  i.  2. 

"  I  shall  leave  my  house  for  a  month  before  next  Au- 
tumn ;  but  I  shall  not  be  obliged  to  quit  it  until  after 
Christmas." 

340.  Mute  and  dumb.  A  dumb  man  has  not  the  power 
to  speak ;  a  mute  man  either  does  not  choose,  or  is  not 
allowed  to  speak.  It  is,  therefore,  more  proper  to  say  of 
a  person  who  can  neither  hear  nor  speak,  that  he  is  "  deaf 
and  dumb,"  than  that  he  is  a  "  deaf  mute." 

341.  Strong  and  robust.  These  words  are  frequently 
misused :  a  strong  man  is  able  to  bear  a  heavy  burden, 
but  not  necessarily  for  a  long  time ;  a  robust  man  bears 
continual  fatigue  with  ease  ;  a  strong  man  may  be  active 
and  nimble  ;  while  an  excess  of  muscular  development,  to- 
gether with  a  clumsiness  of  action,  exclude  these  qualities 
fr<  >m  the  robust  man  : — 

" Stro7ig  as  a  tower  in  hope,  I  cry  Amen!" 

Shakespeare,  Richard  II.  i.  3. 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  53 

"  For  one  who,  though  of  drooping  mien,  had  yet 
From  nature's  kindliness  received  a  frame 
Robust  as  ever  rural  labor  bred." 

Wordsworth,  Excursion,  VI. 

342.  "  Isaac  Newton  invented  the  law  of  gravitation  :" 
say,  discovered.  " Galileo  discovered  the  telescope:"  say, 
in  ri  nted. 

343.  To  hear  and  to  listen  have  each  distinct  degrees  of 
meaning.  To  hear  implies  no  effort  or  particular  attention. 
To  listen  implies  some  eagerness  to  hear.  An  old  proverb 
says,  "  They  that  listen  seldom  hear  any  good  of  them- 
selves." 

344.  Ought  and  should  both  express  obligation,  but  the 
latter  is  not  so  binding  as  the  former.  "  Children  ought 
to  love  their  parents,  and  should  be  neat  in  their  appear- 
ance." 

345.  Alone  and  only  are  often  misapplied.  "  He  only 
could  do  it,"  means  that  no  other  but  himself  could  do  it ; 
"  he  alone  could  do  it,"  should  mean  that  he, without  the  as- 
sistance of  others,  could  do  it. 

346.  "  Please  the  pigs."— {Old  Proverh.)  This  is  a  cor- 
ruption from  "  Please  the  pyx."  The  pyx  is  the  receptacle 
which  contains  the  consecrated  wafer  on  Romish  altars ; 
and  the  exclamation  is  equal  to  "Please  God."  This  cor- 
ruption is  as  curious  a  one  as  that  of  "  tawdry "  from 
"  't  Audrey,"  or  "  at  St.  Audrey's  Fair,"  famous  for  the 
sale  of  frippery' — showy,  cheap,  and  worthless. 

347.  "  The  partridge  is  a  delightful  bird  :"  do  not  say 
patridge.     Also,  do  not  a&y  pasley  for  parsley. 

348.  "After  this,  let  him  hide  his  diminished  head:" 
this  common  phrase  is  a  poetical  quotation  from  Milton, 


54-  FIVE    HUNDRED    MI8TAEJE8    CORRECTED. 

and  is  therefore  proper  to  be  used  even  when  it  does  not 
liU  rally  express  the  idea  : — • 

"  At  whose  sight  all  the  stars 
Hide  their  diminished  heads." 

349.  "That  bourne  from  whence  no  traveler  returns." 
How  often  are  precisely  these  words  spoken  ?  They  are 
improperly  quoted  from  Shakespeare,  in  Hamlet,  and  cor- 
rectly read  as  follows  : — 

"  That  undiscovered  country,  from  whose  bourne 
No  traveler  returns." 

350.  "  Bring  me  my  waistcoat :"  pronounce  as  if  written 
waste-coat,  and  not  weskut.  It  should  rhyme,  as  it  did  in 
an  old  ballad,  with  "laced  coat" 

351.  "Your  bonnet  to  its  right  use." — {Shakespeare:) 
never  say  bunnet. 

352.  "  It  is  not  cold  enough  to  wear  my  gloves :"  pro- 
nounce as  if  written  gluvs,  and  to  rhyme  with  loves.  In 
"  Fair  Rosamond "  the  following  illustrative  stanza  oc- 
curs : — 

"He  said  he  had  his  gloves  from  France: 
The  Queen  said,  '  That  can't  be  : 
If  you  go  there  for  glove-making, 
It  is  without  the  g.'" 

353.  "Egad!  what  great  good  luck!"  This  word  is 
now  inelegantly  used,  except  in  certain  species  of  poetry, 
where  it  is  introduced  with  much  effect,  as  in  the  following 
distich  : — 

"  All  tragedies,  egad!  tome  sound  oddly; 
I  can  no  more  be  serious,  than  you  godly." 

354.  "  The  frigate  is  now  in  the  Yellow  Sea,  or  there- 


FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  55 

abouts ;"  say,  thereabout.  This  term  is  a  transposed  com- 
bination of  about  there  i  there  is  no  such  word  as  there- 
abouts. The  same  mav  be  said  of  hereabouts,  and  where- 
abouts. 

355.  "  Whether  he  will  or  no  /"  say,  not.  The  reason 
of  this  correction  is  clearly  seen  by  supplying  what  is 
needed  to  complete  the  sense  :  Whether  he  will  or  will 
not. 

356.  "  He  looked  at  it  first  lengthways,  then  sideways ;" 
say,  lengthwise  and  sidewise.  Also,  say  otherwise  instead 
of  otherways.  A  nobleman  said  to  his  fool,  "  I  am  wise, 
and  you  are  otherwise^  "Yes,"  replied  his  jester,  "  you 
are  wise,  and  I  am  another  toise." 

357.  If  you  are  a  landlord,  beware  of  incorrectly  using 
such  an  expression  as  in  the  following  :  A  landed  propri- 
etor went  to  a  tenant  with  a  view  of  increasing  his  rent, 
and  said  to  him,  "  Neighbor,  I  am  going  to  raise  your 
rent."  "  Thank  you,  sir,"  was  the  reply,  "  for  I  am  utterly 
unable  to  raise  it  myself." 

358.  "  Will  you  accept  of  this  slight  testimonial?"  Omit 
of,  which  is  superfluous,  and  weakens  the  sentence. 

359.  "  He  convinced  his  opponent  by  dint  of  good  rea- 
soning :"  dint,  meaning  force  or  strength,  is  an  obsolete 
word,  and  should  not  now  be  employed. 

360.  "The  Danube  empties  into  the  Black  Sea":"  say, 
flows  /  to  empty  means  to  make  vacant  /  no  river  can  prop- 
erly be  called  empty,  until  it  is  entirely  dried  up. 

361.  Such  words  as  bamboozle,  topsyturvy,  helterskelter^ 
l  urlybv/rly,  and  pellmell  are  generally  to  be  avoided.  They 
answer,  however,  for  familiar  conversation. 

362.  Never  say  serap)hims,  for   the  plural    of  seraph, 


56  FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES   CORRECTED. 

but   sera/phim  ;    the   same    rule    holds   with    cherubi'i 
Cherubs  and  seraphs  are  proper  plurals,  suiting  a  familiar 
style  of  speaking  or  writing,  while  cherubim  and  seraphim 
are  to  be  used  only  in  more  dignified  and  solemn  dis- 
course. 

363.  "There's  the  books  you  wanted:"  say,  there  are: 
avoid  all  abbreviations  when  they  lead  to  a  grammatical 
error,  as  in  the  present  instance. 

364.  "  This  prisoner  has,  of  all  the  gang,  committed  fewer 
misdemeanors  :"  say,  fewest.  "We  may  say  fewer  than  all, 
but  we  must  say  fewest  of  all. 

365.  "I  esteem  you  more  than  the  others:"  this  sentence 
is  equivocal.  Does  it  mean,  "  I  esteem  you  more  than  I 
esteem  the  others"  or,  " I  esteem  you  more  than  the  others 
esteem  you  f" 

366.  "The  most  eminent  scholars  will,  on  some  points, 
differ  among  one  another  :"  say,  among  themselves. 

367.  ""lie,  from  that  moment,  doubled  his  kindness  and 
caresses  of  me:"  say,  "  kindness  for  and  caresses  of  me;" 
by  omitting  caresses  we  have,  "  He  doubled  his  kindness 
ofme"  which  is  not  good  English. 

368.  To  differ  from  and  to  differ  with :  to  differ  from 
a  man  means  to  have  an  opinion  different  from  his;  to 
differ  with  a  person  signifies  a  quarrel  or  rupture. 

369.  "  He  barely  escaped  having  one  or  two  broken 
heads :"  a  man  has  but  one  head,  let  it  be  broken  or  whole. 
Say,  "  He  once  or  twice  barely  escaped  having  a  broken 
head." 

370.  "  "Whenever  I  fall  into  that  man's  conversation  I 
am  iiitertained  and  profited:"  say,  fall  into  conversation 
toith  that  man. 


FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  57 

371.  "  The  lecturer  spoke  to  several  points  :"  say,  "  spoke 
on  several  points."     He  spoke  to  his  audience. 

37£.  "  I  sliull  regard  your  strictures  only  so  far  as  con- 
cerns my  own  errors:"  say,  concern y  the  phrase  when 
filled  out  should  read,  "  only  so  far  as  they  concern  my 
own  errors." 

373.  "  I  found  him  better  than  I  expected  to  have  found 
him  :"  say,  to  f/nd  him. 

374.  "  I  perceived  that  he  was  totally  blind  with  half 
an  eye :"  say,  "  I  perceived,  with  half  an  eye,  that  he  was 
totally  blind."  Otherwise,  to  a  man  totally  Hind  you  allot 
half  an  eye  ! 

375.  The  word  only  is  often  wrongly  placed  in  the  sen- 
tence, and  made  to  express  an  idea  which  is  not  designed 
to  be  conveyed.  "  ISTot  only  Chinese  are  superstitious," 
implies  that  others  besides  the  Chinese  are  superstitious. 
"  Chinese  are  not  only  superstitious,"  implies  that  in  ad- 
dition to  being  superstitious,  they  have  some  other  charac- 
teristics. "  Chinese  not  only  are  superstitious,"  leaves  room 
for  something  still  further  to  be  implied  of  the  Chinese  than 
superstition,  and  which  is  not  necessarily  the  predicate  of 
are  j  as,  "  Chinese  not  only  are  superstitious,  but  they  per- 
secute those  who  do  not  put  faith  in  Confucius." 

376.  Not  the  least  and  nothing  less  than,  sometimes  lite- 
rally convey  just  the  opposite  of  what  is  intended.  "  He 
has  not  the  least  excuse  for  going,"  may  mean  that  he  has 
a  great  excuse,  or  none  at  all.  "  He  seeks  nothing  less  than 
worldly  honor,"  may  signify  that  nothing  inferior  to  worldly 
honor  will  satisfy  his  desire ;  or,  on  the  other  hand,  it  may 
mean    that  nothing  is  less  sought  by  him  than  worldly 


58  FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

honor.     Such  expressions,  therefore,  are  to  be  used  with 
caution,  else  they  will  mislead. 

377.  Cure  should  be  taken  in  the  use  of  epithets.  For 
instance,  in  the  sentence,  "A  wise  and  good  man  should  be 
respected,  the  words  wise  and  good  may  properly  be 
applied  to  the  same  man ;  but  if  the  sentence  should  be 
altered  to  read,  "  An  old  and  young  man"  it  is  obvious  that 
both  epithets  could  not  relate  to  the  same  person. 

378.  Never  say  turhle  soup,  for  turtle  soup. 

379.  The  word  long  should  not  now  be  employed  to  sig- 
nify many.  An  example  of  this  early  usage  is  found  in  the 
Fifth  Commandment,  "  that  thy  days  may  be  long  upon 
the  land."  The  following  lines  furnish  an  instance  of  the 
verb  to  lengthen,  meaning  to  make  many : — ■ 

"  The  best  of  all  ways 
To  lengthen  our  days, 
Is  to  take  a  few  hours  from  the  night,  my  lad." 

380.  "They  returned  bade  again  to  the  same  city  from 
whence  they  came  forth:''''  omit  the  italicized  words,  which 
are  redundant  and  inelegant. 

381.  "  Have  you  any  leisure  upon  your  hands  V  omit 
upon  your  hands, — not  so  much  because  anything  after 
"  leisure  "  is  superfluous,  in  such  a  sentence,  as  because  the 
idea  of  having  leisure  upon  your  hands  is  absurd. 

382.  "  Seven  lads  were  present,  and  he  gave  them  all  a 
book:"  say,  gave  them  each  a  book.  All  refers  to  a  num- 
ber of  persons  or  things  taken  collectively,  as  one  bod;/ : 
each  refers  to  every  individual,  separately  considered. 

383.  "  Lend  me  your  umberell:"  say,  umbrella.  The 
former  pronunciation,  however,  is  allowed  by  poetic  license, 
as  in  the  following,  adapted  from  Thomas  Moore  : — 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  59 

"Oh,  ever  thus  from  childhood's  hour, 

Has  chilling  fate  upon  me  fell ! 

There  always  comes  a  soakin'  shower 

When  I  hain't  got  an  ivnberell." 

384.  We  lately  met  a  grammarian,  who  had  just  made 
a  tour  through  the  mines,  conjugating,  or,  rather,  cogitating 
thus:  "Positive,  mine;  comparative  miner;  superlative, 
minus/" 

385.  "  Put  not  thy  secret  into  the  mouth  of  the  Bosplio- 
rus,  for  it  will  betray  it  to  the  ears  of  the  Black  Sea." — ■ 
{Oriental  Proverb.)  Pronounce  Bosphorus  as  if  written 
Bosforus,  and  not  Bos-porous. 

3S6.  Be  careful  to  use  the  hyphen  (-)  correctly  :  it  joins 
compound  words,  and  words  broken  by  the  ending  of  a 
line.  The  use  of  the  hyphen  will  appear  more  clearly  from 
the  following  example:  "many  colored  wings"  means 
many  wings  which  are  colored;  but  "  many-colored  wings" 
means  "wings  oi  many  colors." 

387.  "  I  am  afraid  it  will  rain  :"  say,  I  fear.  Afraid 
expresses  terror  ;  fear  may  mean  only  anxiety. 

388.  Never  say  o fences  for  offences  ;  pison  for  poison  ; 
co-lection  for  collection;  voiolent  for  violent;  kivver  for 
cover ;  afeard  for  afraid;  debbuty  for  deputy.  The  last 
three  examples  are  very  common. 

389.  "  It  is  a  mere  cipher :"  never  spell  cipher  with 
ay. 

390.  "I  was  necessitated  to  do  it:"  a  poor  expression, 
and  often  made  worse  by  n-ecessiated  being  used  :  say,  I 
was  obliged,  or  compelled,  to  do  it. 

391.  "  Gibbon  wrote  the  Rise  and  Fall  of  the  Roman 
Empire:"  pronounce  Rise,  the  noun,  so  as  to  rhyme  with 
price  ;  Rise,  the  verb,  rhymes  with  prize. 


60  FIVE   HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

392.  ':  Ho  joined  his  regiment  last  week:"  never  say, 
ridgiment  for  regiment. 

393.  "He  bought  a  gimlet:"  never  spell  the  last  word 
gimblet,  as  many  do. 

304.  "  lie  is  a  supporter  of  the  Government :"  beware 
of  omitting  the  n  in  the  second  syllable  of  Government — a 
very  common  practice. 

305.  "Received  this  day  of  Mr.  Brown  ten  dollars:" 
say,  "Received  this  day  from,"  &c. 

396.  "  Of  whatever  you  get,  endeavor  to  save  something ; 
and  with  all  your  getting,  get  wisdom  :"  carefully  avoid 
saying  git  for  get,  and  gitting  for  getting. 

397.  "  So  intent  was  he  on  the  song  he  was  singing, 
while  he  stood  by  the  fire,  that  he  did  not  perceive  that 
his  clothes  were  singeing"  Verbs  ending  with  a  sin- 
gle e,  omit  the  e  when  the  termination  ing  is  added,  as, 
give,  giving /  in  singeing,  however,  the  e  must  be  re- 
tained, to  prevent  its  being  confounded  with  singing.  The 
e  must  also  be  retained  in  dyeing,  to  distinguish  it  from 
dying. 

398.  The  following  sentences  may  be  studied  :  "  The  dyer 
dyes  daily,  yet  he  dies  not."  "The  miner  minds  the  minor 
mines."  "It  is  not  meet  to  mete  out  such  meat."  "He 
performed  a  great  feat  with  his  feet  at  the  fete."  {Fete  is 
pronounced  fate.) 

399.  "  Lower  the  sails,  as  the  sky  begins  to  lower :" 
pronounce  low  in  the  former  so  as  to  rhyme  with  mow, 
and  low  in  the  latter  so  as  to  rhyme  with  cow. 

400.  "  There  was  a  great  row  on  Monday,  in  Try  on 
Row :"  pronounce  the  former  row  so  as  to  rhyme  with 
cow — the  latter  row,  so  as  to  rhyme  with  mo. 


FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  61 

401.  "  His  surname  is  Clifford  :"  never  spell  the  sur  in 
"  surname'''  sir,  which  shows  an  ignorance  of  its  true  deri- 
vation, which  is  from  the  Latin. 

402.  "The  buildings  are  so  old  that  they  pay  almost  no 
rent  now  :"  scarcely  any  rent,  is  better. 

403.  "His  mamma  sent  him  to  a  preparatory  school :" 
mamma  is  often  written  with  one  m  only,  which  is  not,  as 
may  at  first  be  supposed,  in  imitation  of  the  French 
rnaman,  but  in  sheer  ignorance. 

404.  Active  verbs  often  take  a  neuter  sense  ;  as,  "  The 
house  is  building :"  here,  is  building  is  used  in  a  neuter 
signification,  because  it  has  no  object  after  it.  By  this 
rule  are  explained  such  sentences  as,  "  Application  is 
wanting;"  "The  Grammar  is  printing"  &c. 

405.  "  He  attackted  me  without  the  slightest,  provoca- 
tion :"  say,  attacked. 

406.  "  I  called  on  him  every  day  in  the  week  success- 
fully :"  very  common,  but  incorrect ;  say,  successively. 

407.  "  I  fear  I  shall  discommode  you :"  it  is  better  to 
say,  incommode. 

408.  "  I  can  do  it  equally  as  well  as  he :"  leave  out 
equally,  which  is  superfluous. 

409.  "  We  could  not  forbear  from  doing  it :"  leave  out 
from,  which  is  unnecessary  ;  or  say,  refrain  from. 

410.  "  He  was  totally  dependent  of  his  father :"  say, 
dependent  on  his  father. 

411.  "  They  accused  him  for  neglecting  his  duty  :"  say, 
of  neglecting,  &c. 

412.  "  They  have  a  great  resemblance  with  each  other :" 
say,  to  each  other. 

413.  "  I  entirely  dissent  with  him  :"  say,  from  him. 


62  FIVE    HUNDEED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

414.  "  He  was  made  much  on  at  the  Springs  :"  say, 
made  much  of,  &c. 

415.  "  He  is  a  man  on  whom  you  can  confide  :"  say,  in 
whom,  &c. 

416.  "  He  was  obliged  to  fly  the  country  :"  say,  flee  the 
country.     A  very  common  mistake. 

417.  "  The  snuffers  wants  mending  :"  say,  want  mend- 
ing.    No  one  would  say,  "  My  pantaloons  is  ripped." 

418.  u  His  conduct  admits  of  no  apology:"  omit  of, 
which  is  quite  unnecessary. 

419.  "  A  gent  has  been  here  inquiring  for  you  :"  a  de- 
testable, but  very  common  expression  ;  say,  a  gentleman 
has  been,  &c.  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  hits  off  this  liberty 
with  language,  in  the  following  happy  couplet : — 

"The  tilings  called  pants,  in  certain  documents, 
Were  never  made  for  gentlemen,  but  gents." 

420.  "That  was  all  along  of  you:"  say,  "That  was  all 
your  fault" 

421.  "  You  have  no  call  to  be  angry  with  me :"  say,  no 
occasion,  &c. 

422.  "  Too  free  an  indulgence  in  luxuries  enervate  and 
injure  the  system :"  say ',  enervates  and  injures,  &c.  The 
plural,  luxuries,  standing  directly  before  the  verb,  (which 
should  be  enervates,  in  the  singular,)  deceives  the  ear. 
Errors  of  this  kind  are  very  common,  though  a  moment's 
thought  would  correct  them.  The  verb  must  agree  with. 
its  subject  in  person  and  in  number  ;  if  the  noun  \<  in 
the  singular,  the  verb  that  belongs  to  it  must  also  be  in  the 
singular. 

423.  "A  father  divided  a  portion  of  his  property  among 
his  two  children,  and  the  remainder  he  distributed  between 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  63 

the  poor:"  say,  between  his  two  children,  and  among  the 
poor.     Between  is  applicable  to  two  only,  among  to  th 
or  more. 

424.  ''''Every  child  should  obey  their  parents:"  say,  his 
parents.  The  pronoun  must  agree  with  the  noun  in  num- 
ber, &c. 

425.  "  He  is  a  person  who  I  respect  greatly  :"  say,  whom. 
"  Be  careful  who  you  trust :"  whom  you  trust. 

426.  "Let  me  consider  of  this  matter."  "The  culprit 
dreaded  to  enter  in  the  prison."  "  The  laborers  were  not 
allowed  to  want  for  anything."  Leave  out  the  italicized 
words — the  sense  being  complete  without  them. 

427.  Cupola  is  often  pronounced  cupalo  /  foliage,  foil- 
age  j  future,  futur  j  nature,  natur :  all  of  which  errors 
should  be  carefully  avoided. 

428.  "  'Ovv  'appens  it  that  ^englishmen  so  Aoften  mis- 
place their  Aaitches  ?"  It  is  a  cockney  ism  ;  and  if  yon  have 
fallen  into  the  habit,  it  will  require  perhaps  more  perse- 
verance than  you  imagine,  to  correct  it. 

429.  Do  you  say  vagabond  or  vagabond,  vinegar  or 
-vinegar,  e>ery  or  very,  walking  or  walking,  watchman  or 
watchman  ?  It  is  a  local  custom,  but  if  you  have  any  taint 
of  it,  don't  sing  "  Fillikins  and  his  Dinah." 

430.  Providence,  confidence,  and  similar  words,  are  often 
pronounced  Providence,  confidence,  &c,  substituting  u 
for  ence.     So  also,  words  ending  in  ance,  as  maintenance, 
sustenance,  suRVEiiiance,  are  pronounced  falsely  jnainl 
unce,  sustenance,  &c. 

431.  Coming,  going,  according,  ifoc,  are  often  pro- 
nounced without  the  final  g :  speak  them  distinctly,  and 
pronounce  difficult  words  with  de-lib-er-a-tion. 


04  FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

432.  If  you  are  a  Yankee,  you  should  (though,  as  a  gen- 
eral thing,  you  will  not)  take  special  pains  with  your 
vowel  sounds,  that  they  he  not  formed  through  the  nasal  ca- 
vil ios.     Don't  say  heow,  ceow,  confeound,  for  how,  cow,  &c. 

433.  If  you  are  a  Western  man,  you  are  liable  to  give 
your  vowel  sounds  too  great  breadth.  You  should  not  say 
Ixir  f(  n-  b,  ar,  li  inn  for  home,  dawlar  for  dollar  /  and  it  is  bet- 
ter to  avoid  using  such  expressions  as  I  reckon,  I  guess,  I 
calculate,  too  frequently. 

434.  "  I  am  going  a  fishing:"  be  bold  enough  to  be. one 
among  the  foremost  to  break  away  from  the  bad  habit  of 
saying  a  fishing,  a  talking,  a  courting,  &c.  This  custom, 
however,  should  be  retained  in  quoting  proverbs  and  wise 
sayings  ;  these  are  better  in  proportion  as  they  are  older; 
for  example :  "  Who  goes  a-borrowing,  goes  a-sorr owing." 
The  quaintness  would  be  destroyed  by  saying  simply  bor- 
rowing and  sorrowing. 

435.  Some  people  add  a  superfluous  preposition  at  the 
end  of  a  sentence — "  More  than  you  think  for."  This  is 
awkward. 

436.  "  Then  think  on  the  friend  who  once  welcomed  it 
too,"  &c.  &c. :  say,  of. 

437.  Thou  and  thee  are  no  longer  used  in  spelling  or 
writing,  except  by  some  of  The  Friends  ;  but  proverbial 
citations,  originally  expressed  in  that  form,  lose  much  of 
their  beauty  and  force  by  alteration  ;  as,  "If  thou  seest 
thy  house  in  flames,  approach  and  warm  thyself  by  it." 
How  greatly  would  a  change  of  person  tame  the  spirit  of 
this  fine  proverb  ! 

438.  "By  the  street  of  lBy-<mdrJBy?  one  arrives  at  the 
house  of  '  Never.'  "     Do  not  say,  Bfmby. 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 


65 


439.  Be  careful  to  observe  the  two  plurals  of  the  follow 
ing  nouns : 

First  Plural. 


Singular. 
Brother, 
Die, 
Index, 

Pea, 

Sow, 
Genius, 


j  Brothers  (of  the  same 
j  parents), 

>r  coining), 
j  Indexes  (tables  of  con- 
/  tents); 

j  Peas    (referring     to    a 
(  limited  numbei), 
Pennies  (coins), 
C'ovjs  (a  herd  of  cattle), 
Sows  (a  litter), 
Geniuses  (men  of  genius), 


Second  Plural. 
(  Brethren  (of  the  same 
j  society). 
Dice  (for  gaming). 

Indices  (signs  in  a! 

j  Pease  (referring  to  the 

/  whole  species). 
Pence  (the  value). 
Kine  (the  species). 
Swine  (the  species). 
Genii  (imaginary  spirits). 


440.  Different  shades  of  meaning  may  be  expressed  by 
slight  variations  in  the  position  of  the  important  words  in 
a  sentence.  For  example,  "  The  Paradise  Lost  of  Milton" 
is  not  exactly  the  same  in  import  as,  "Milton's  Paradise 
Lost ;"  in  the  former,  attention  is  called  to  the  author- — in 
the  latter,  to  the  poem. 

441.  In  uniting  the  plural  of  one,  two,  three,  do  not  use 
the  apostrophe  [']  as  one's,  two's,  three's.  Good  writers 
never  conform  to  the  latter  mode.  Wordsworth,  who  was 
remarkably  particular,  not  only  in  the  choice  of  his  words 
but  in  their  orthography,  wrote  : 

"  The  sun  has  long  been  set, 

The  stars  are  out  by  twos  and  threes ; 
The  little  birds  are  piping  yet 

Among  the  bushes  and  the  trees." 

442.  "How's  yourself,  this  morning?"  an  exceeding! v 
common,  but  very  objectionable  expression:  say,  u  How 
are  you,"  &c. 

443.  "  "Wantetl,  two  apprentices,  who  will  be  treated  as 
one  of  the  family  :"  great  practical  difficulty  would  be 
found  in  realizing  such  treatment !  Say,  "  as  members  of 
the  family." 


GQ  FIVE    HUNDRED  MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

444.  The  following  lines  afford  an  instance  of  the  in- 
genious uses  to  which  the  English  language  may  be  put: 

"  You  sigh/or  a  cipher,  but  I  sigh  for  you  ; 
Oh,  sigh  for  no  cipher,  but  oh,  sigh  for  me  ; 
Oh,  let  not  my  sigh  for  a  cipher  go, 

But  give  sigh  for  sigh,  for  J  sigh  for  you  so!" 

The  above  is  more  briefly  expressed   in  the  following 

manner : 

"  U  o  a  o,  but  I  o  u, 

Oh,  0  no  0,  but  oh,  0  me  ; 

Oh,  let  not  my  0  a  0  go, 

But  give  0  0  I  0  u  sol" 

445.  Sometimes  but  is  incorrectly  substituted  for  that : 
as,  "I  have  no  doubt  but  he  will  be  here  to-night." 
Sometimes  for  the  conjunction  if,  as,  "I  shouldn't  wonder 
but  that  was  the  case."  And  sometimes  two  conjunctions 
are  used  instead  of  one,  as,  "  If 'thai  I  have  offended  him," 
"  After  that  he  had  seen  the  parties,"  &c.  All  this  is 
very  awkward  and  should  be  avoided. 

446.  "My  hands  are  chopped:"  say,  chapped. 

447.  "  This  will  serve  as  a  preventative  :"  say,  preven- 
tive. 

448.  "  A  nishe  young  man,"  "  What  makesh  you  laugh  ?". 
"  If  he  offendsh  you,  don't  speak  to  him,"  "Ash  you  please," 
"  ^sotjush  yet,"  "We  always  passh  your  house  in  going 
to  call  on  MisshYatesh."  This  is  decided,  unmitigated  cock- 
neyism,  having  its  parallel  in  nothing  except  the  broken 
English  of  the  sons  of  Abraham,  and  to  adopt  it  in  conver- 
sation is  certainly  "  not:  speaking  like  a  Christian." 

449.  Never  say,  "  Cut  it  in  half"  for  this  you  cannot  do 
unless  you  could  annihilate  one  half.    You  may  "  cut  it  in 


FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 


07 


two,"  or  "  cut  it  in  halves,"  or  "  cut  it  through,"  or  "  di- 
vide it,"  but  no  human  ability  will  enable  you  to  cut  it  in 
half.    ' 

451.  To  lay  and  to  lie. — To  lay  is  an  active  or  transitive 
verb,  and  must  always  have  an  object,  expressed  or  un- 
derstood. To  lie  (not  meaning  to  tell  a  falsehood)  is  a 
neuter  or  intransitive,  and  therefore  does  not  admit  of  an 
object.  The  only  real  difficulty  arises  from  the  fact,  that 
the  past  tense  of  "  lie,"  when  used  without  an  auxiliary, 
is  the  same  as  the  present  of  "  lay."  But  a  little  attention 
will  obviate  this.  Nothing  can  be  more  erroneous  than  to 
say,  "  I  shall  go  and  lay  down."  The  question  which  nat- 
urally arises  in  the  mind  of  the  discriminating  hearer  is, 
"  What  are  you  going  to  lay  down — money,  carpets,  plans, 
or  what?"  for,  as  a  transitive  verb  is  used,  an  object  is 
wanted  to  complete  the  sense.  The  speaker  means,  that 
he  himself  is  going  to  lie  down.  "  My  brother  lays  ill 
of  a  fever,"  should  be,  "  My  brother  lies"  &c. 


Verb  Active. 
To  lay. 

Present  Tense 
Hay 

Thou  layest 
11  <>  lays 
We  iay 
You  lay 
They  lay 


money, 
carpets, 

-plans, 
—  any 
thing. 


Imperfect  Tense. 
I  laid 

Thou  laidest 
He  laid 
We  laid 
You  laid 
They  laid 


money, 
carpets, 
plans, 
—  any 
thing. 


Present  Participle,  Laying. 
Perfect  Participle,  Laid. 


Hie 
Thou  liest 
He  lies 
We  lie 
Yon  lie 
They  lie 


Verb  Neuter. 

To  lie. 
Present  Tense. 


down, 
too  long, 

-on  a  sofa, 
—  any 
where. 


Hay 
Thou  layest 
He  lays 
We  lay 
You  lay 
They  lay 


Imperfect  Tense. 


down, 
(oo  Ions;, 
on  a  sofa, 
—  any 
where. 


Present  Participle,  Lying. 
Perfect  Participle,  Lain. 


0b  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

452.  Many  people  have  an  odd  way  of  saying,  "I  ex- 
pect," when  they  mean  only  "I  think,"  or  "I  conclude  ;" 
as,  "  I  expect  my  brother  went  to  Richmond  to-day," 
"  I  expect  those  books  were  sent  to  Paris  last  year." 
Expect  can  relate  only  to  future  time,  and  must  be 
followed  by  a  future  tense,  or  a  verb  in  the  infinitive 
mood ;  as,  "  I  expect  my  brother  will  go  to  Richmond 
to-day,"  "  I  expect  to  find  those  books  were  sent  to  Paris 
last  year." 

453.  "  A  summer's  morning,"  should  be,  A  summer 
morning. 

454.  The  vulgar  speaker  uses  adjectives  instead  of  ad- 
verbs, and  says,  "This  letter  is  written  shocking y"  the 
genteel  speaker  uses  adverbs  instead  of  adjectives,  and 
says,  "This  writing  looks  shockingly. " 

455.  "  Nobody  else  but  him,"  should  be,  Nobody  but 
him. 

456.  "That  ain't  just,"  should  be,  That  is  not  just. 

457.  "  He  was  killed  by  a  cannon-ball,"  should  be,  He 
was  killed  with  a  cannon-ball.  He  was  killed  by  the 
cannoneer. 

458.  "A  new  jpair  of  gloves,"  should  be,  A  pair  of  new 
gloves. 

459.  "  Before  I  do  that,  I  must  first  be  paid,"  should 
be,  Before  I  do  that,  I  must  be  paid. 

460.  A  grammatical  play  upon  the  word  that: 

"  Xow  that  is  a  word  which  may  often  bo  joined, 
For  that  that  may  be  doubled  is  clear  to  the  mind  ; 
And  that  that  that  is  right,  is  as  plain  to  the  view, 
As  that  that  that  that  we  use  is  rightly  used  too; 
And  that  that  that  that  that  liue  has  in  it,  is  right — 
In  accordance  with  grammar,  is  plain  in  our  sight" 


FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  69 

461.  "He  will  go  from  thence  tomorrow."  The  prepo- 
sition "  from"  is  included  in  these  adverbs,  therefore  it  be- 
comes tautology  in  sense  when  prefixed  to  them. 

462.  "  Equally  as  well,"  is  a  very  common  expression, 
and  a  very  incorrect  one  ;  the  adverb  of  comparison,  "  as," 
has  no  right  in  the  sentence.  "Equally  well,"  "Equally 
high,"  "  Equally  dear,"  should  be  the  construction ;  and 
if  a  complement  be  necessary  in  the  phrase,  it  should  be 
preceded  by  the  preposition  "  with,"  as,  "  The  Avail  was 
equally  high  with  the  former  one,"  "  The  goods  at  Smith's 
are  equally  dear  with  those  sold  at  the  shop  next  door," 
&c.     "  Equally  the  same"  is  tautology. 

463.  Some  persons  talk  of  "  continuing  on ;"  in  what 
other  direction  would  it  be  possible  to  continue? 

464.  "The  satin  measured  twelve  yards  before  I  cut  this 
piece  off  of  it."  "  The  fruit  was  gathered  off  of  that  tree." 
Omit  of;  or,  omitting  off  of,  insert  from. 

465.  "  He  left  His  horse,  and  got  on  to  a  stage-coach," 
"He  jumped  on  to  the  floor,"  "  She  laid  it  on  to  a  dish," 
"I  threw  it  on  to  the  fire."  Why  use  two  prepositions 
where  one  would  be  quite  as  explicit,  and  far  more  ele- 
gant? Nobody  would  think  of  saying,  "He  came  to  JNew- 
Yovk,for  to  go  to  the  exhibition." 

466.  "  No  other  resource  but  this  was  allowed  him  :" 
say,  "  No  other  resource  than  this,"  &c. 

467.  "  I  don't  know  but  what  I  shall  go  to  White  Plains 
to-morrow :"  say,  "  I  don't  know  but  that,"  &c. 

468.  "  One  of  those  houses  were  sold  last  week,"  "  Each 
of  the  daughters  are  to  have  a  separate  share,"  "  Every 
tree  in  those  plantations  have  been  injured  by  the  storm," 
"  Either  of  the  children  are  at  liberty  to  claim  it."     Here 


TO  FIVE    HUNDRED    MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

it  will  be  perceived  that  the  pronouns  "  one,"  "each," 
"  every,"  "  either,"  are  the  true  nominatives  to  the  verbs  ; 
but  the  intervening  noun  in  the  plural  number,  in  each 
sentence,  deludes  the  ear;  and  the  speaker,  without  reflec- 
tion, renders  the  verb  in  the  plural  instead  of  the  singular 
number. 

469.  "  Many  still  die  annually  from  the  plague :"  sa}7, 
(f  the  plague. 

470.  "  He  spoke  contemptibly  of  him,"  should  be,  He 
spoke  contemptuously  of  him. 

471.  "  Was  you?"  should  be,  Were  you? 

472.  "  This  is  the  more  perfect  of  the  two  :"  say,  More 
complete.     Perfect  rarely  admits  comparison. 

473.  Avoid  all  slang  and  vulgar  words  and  phrases, 
as,  Anyhow,  Bating,  Bran  neio,  To  blow  up,  Bother,  Cut, 
Carrying  favor,  Fork  out,  Half  an  eye,  I  am  up  to  you, 
Kick  up,  /Scrape,  The  /Scratch,  Walk  into. 

474.  "  Go  over  the  bridge,"  should  be,  Go  across  the 
bridge. 

475.  u  I  was  some  distance  from  home,"  should  be,  I 
was  at  some  distance  from  home. 

47G.  "Is  Mr.  Smith  inf"  should  be,  Is  Mr.  Smith 
within  f 

477.  "  It  is  above  a  month  since,"  should  be,  It  is  more 
than  a  month  since. 

478.  Vegetables  were  plenty"  should  be,  Vegetables 
were  plentiful. 

479.  "We  both  were  very  disappointed."  This  is  an 
incomplete  expression  :  say,  very  much,  or  very  greatly. 
No  one  would  think  of  saying,  "  We  both  were  very 
pleased" 


FIVE   HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  71 

480.  "It  is  I  who  is  to  receive  the  appointment :"  say, 
who  am  to  receive ;  who  is  in  the  first  person,  and  the 
verb  of  which  it  is  the  subject  must  be  in  the  same. 

481.  Never  say  biscake*  for  biscuit. 

482.  "  Passengers  are  not  requested  to  let  down  the 
chains,  before  the  boat  is  fastened  to  the  bridge."  [From 
a  printed  regulation  on  one  of  the  New- York  and  Brook- 
lyn ferry-boats.]  The  reading  should  be,  "Passengers  are 
requested  not  to  let  down  the  chains." 

483.  "  How  will  you  swap  jack-knives  ?"  swap,  although 
it  is  a  word  familiarly  used  in  connection  with  "jack- 
knives,"  is  a  term  that  cannot  lay  the  least  claim  to 
elegance.  Use  some  other  of  the  many  mercantile  ex- 
pressions to  which  trade  has  given  rise. 

484.  "  He's  put  his  nose  to  the  grin-stone  at  an  early 
age."  [A  remark  usually  made  by  old  ladies,  suggested 
by  the  first  marriage  among  their  grandsons.]  Say,-  grind- 
stone. A  grin-stone  implies  a  stone  that  "  grins,"  whereas, 
especially  in  this  instance,  the  "  nose  "  fulfills  that  office. 

485.  The  importance  of  punctuating  a  written  sentence 
is  often  neglected.  Space  does  not  permit  the  giving  of 
rules  on  this  subject,  in  this  book.  Business  correspond- 
ence is  generally  blemished  by  many  omissions  of  this 
character ;  for  example,  "  Messrs  G  Longman  &  Co 
have  reed  a  note  from  the  Cor  Sec  Nat  Shipwreck  Soc  in- 
forming them  of  the  loss  of  one  of  their  vessels  off  the  N  E 
Coast  of  S  A  at  8  P  M  on  the  20  of  Jan."  A  clergyman, 
standing  in  his  pulpit,  was  once  handed  a  slip  of  paper,  to 
be  read  in  the  hearing  of  the  congregation,  which  was  in- 
tended to  convey  the  following  notice  :  "  A  man  going  to 
sea,  his  wife  desires  the  prayers  of  the  church."     But  the 


72  FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED. 

sentence  was  improperly  punctuated,  and  he  read,  "  A  man 
going  to  see  his  wife,  desires  the  prayers  of  the  church !" 

486.  "The  knave  thereupon  commenced  rifling  his 
friend's  (as  he  called  him)  pocket :"  say,  "  The  knave  com- 
menced rifling  the  pocket  of  his  friend,  as  he  facetiously 
called  him."  The  possessive  case,  and  the  word  that 
governs  it,  must  not  be  separated  by  an  intervening  clause. 

487.  "  I  owe  thee  a  heavy  debt  of  gratitude,  and  you 
will  not  permit  me  to  repay  it :"  say,  either  "  I  owe  you" 
(fee,  preserving  "  and  you  will  "  in  the  second  clause  ;  or, 
"I  owe  thee"  and  altering  "and  you  will"  into  "and 
thou  icilt." 

488.  "  Every  lancer  and  every  rifleman  were  at  their 
post :"  say,  was  at  his  post. 

489.  " I  can  lift  as  many  pounds  as  he  has:"  add  I 

490.  Do  not  use  to,  the  sign  of  the  infinitive  mood,  for 
the  infinitive  itself.  "  I  have  not  written  to  him,  and  I  am 
not  likely  to,"  should  read,  "  I  am  not  likely  to  write  to 
him." 

491.  The  word  agree  is  sometimes  followed  by  the  wrong 
preposition.  We  should  say,  agree  with  a  person — to  a 
proposition — upon  a  thing  among  ourselves. 

492.  We  should  say  compare  with,  in  respect  of 
quality — compare  to,  for  the  sake  of  illustration. 

493.  We  should  say  copy  after  a  person — copy  from  a 
tiling. 

494.  Between  is  properly  applied  only  to  two  objects  ; 
among,  to  three  or  more.  "  A  father  divided  a  portion  of 
his  property  between  his  two  sons  ;  the  rest  he  distributed 
among  the  poor." 

495.  In  should  not  be  used  for  into,  after  verbs  denoting 


FIVE    HUNDRED   MISTAKES    CORRECTED.  73 

entrance.     "  Come  in  my  parlor,"  should  read,  "  Come 
into  my  parlor." 

496.  "  We  confide  in,  and  have  respect  for,  the  good." 
Such  a  form  of  expression  is  strained  and  awkward.  It  is 
better  to  say,  "  We  confide  in  the  good,  and  have  respect 
for  them"  or,  "  We  trust  and  respect  the  good." 

497.  "This  veil  of  flesh  parts  the  visible  and  the  invisi- 
ble world:"  say,  "parts  the  visible  from  the  invisible." 
It  certainly  is  not  meant  that  the  veil  of  flesh  parts  (or 
divides)  each  of  these  worlds. 

498.  "  Every  leaf,  every  twig,  every  blade,  every  drop 
of  water,  teem  with  life  :"  say,  teems. 

499.  "  Dr.  Prideaux  used  to  relate  that  when  he  brought 
the  manuscript  of  his  Connection  of  the  Old  and  the  New 
Testaments  to  the  publisher,  he  told  him  it  was  a  dry 
subject,  and  that  the  printing  could  not  be  safely  ventured 
upon  unless  he  could  enliven  the  work  with  a  little  humor." 
The  sense  alone,  and  not  the  sentence,  indicates  to  whom  he 
and  him  respectively  refer ;  such  a  form  of  expression  is 
faulty,  because  it  may  lead  to  a  violation  of  perspicuity, 
which  is  one  of  the  most  essential  qualities  of  a  good  style. 

500.  The  last  direction  which  this  little  book  will  give, 
on  the  subject  with  which  it  has  been  occupied,  is  one  that 
long  ago  was  given  in  the  greatest  of  books —  "  Let  your 
conversation  be  as  it  becometh  the  Gospel  of  Christ."  Ii 
obedience  to  this  injunction  may  not  guard  him  who  heeds 
it  against  the  commission  of  such  mistakes  as  are  num- 
bered in  this  catalogue,  it  will  not  fail  to  lead  him  out  of 
the  way  of  errors  more  grievous  and  solemn. 


THE 


smm  mi  nun's  umiL 

BY  WILLIAM  W.  SMITH, 

Princiual  of  Grammar  School  No.  1,  New- York;  Author  of  The  Speller's  Manual. 


This  work  contains  about  fourteen  thousand  of  the  most  useful  words  in 
the  English  language,  correctly  spelled,  pronounced,  defined,  and  arranged 
in  classes,  together  with  rules  for  spelling,  prefixes  and  suffixes,  with  their 
significations,  rules  for  use  of  capitals,  punctuation  and  other  marks  used 
in  writing  and  printing,  quotations  from  other  languages  used  in  English  com- 
position, abbreviations,  &c,  to  which  is  added  a  Vocabulary  for  reference. 
Words  which  resemble  each  other  in  pronunciation,  but  have  different 
meanings,  are  arranged  together,  and  occupy  about  one  eighth  of  the  entire 
work,  containing  nearly  three  hundred  pages.  The  sentences  for  examples 
for  pupils  (each  embracing  two  or  more  of  these  words)  will  be  found  very 
instructive  and  interesting.  While  The  Speller  and  Definer's  Manual 
supplies  all  that  can  be  desired  in  an  ordinary  dictionary  or  speller,  it  fur 
nishes  much  important  information  that  cannot  be  found  in  these,  and  pre- 
sents a  study,  usually  dry  and  uninteresting,  in  a  natural  and  attractive 
manner.  It  is  adapted  to  the  capacities  of  children,  and  will  essentially  aid 
the  teacher  in  the  work  of  instruction  by  suggesting  questions  and  ideas  that 
are  very  often  overlooked  amid  the  anxieties  of  the  school-room. 

It  will  be  found  to  be  one  of  the  most  useful  works  U>v  schools  or  SELF- 
INSTRUCTION  ever  issued  as  a  text-book,  and  its  examination  will 
abundantly  repay  any  friend  of  education. 

The  Manual  has  been  adopted  by  the  Board  of  Education  for  use  in  the 
Public  Schools  of  New-York  City. 

We  invite  attention  to  the  following  extracts  of  notices  of  this  work  from 
city  papers : 

NOTICES     OF     THE     PRESS. 

"The  volume  is  not  only,  valuable  as  a  text-book  for  schools,  but  will  bo 
USEFUL  TO  ADULTS  whose  knowledge  of  the  mechanics  of  literature 
has  grown  rusty." — Commercial  Advertiser. 

"We  like  the  plan  and  execution  of  this  new  work,  and  recommend  it  to 
the  attention  of  teachers." — Life  Illustrated. 

"The  author  cf  this  excellent  little  manual  is  the  principal  of  one  of  our 
grammar  schools,  and  is  well  known  as  a  teacher.  If  his  manual  have  any 
fault,  it  is  that  of  brevity,  for  the  principle  upon  which  it  is  constructed, 
strikes  us  as  perfect. — New-York  Courier. 

Retail  price  G2A-  cents.  Single  copies,  for  examination,  sent  to  any  part 
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OF 

READERS. 


D.  B.  TOWER,  A.  M., 

(principal    of    park    latin    school,    boston,) 

AND 

CORNELIUS  WALKER,  A.  M. 

(principal    of    wells    grammar    school,   boston.) 


The  first  essential  of  good  reading  is  a  distinct  articulation.  This  can 
only  result  from  practice  of  the  elementary  sounds  and  their  combinations. 
All  of  these  simple  elements  and  their  combinations  are  given,  with  ample 
directions,  arranged  in  the  simplest  ami  most  compact  form,  in  the  first 
books  of  Tower's  series. 

The  next  points  are  Emphasis  and  the  Tones. 

These  are  set  forth  and  illustrated  in  the  last  three  Readers.  The  elements 
of  expression  requisite  for  the  utterance  of  every  sentiment,  are  clearly 
described  and  explained  by  appropriate  examples.  By  these  examples,  it  is 
clearly  shown  how  a  passage  is  to  be  read,  and  thence  is  deduced  a  rule  or 
principle  that  all  similar  passages  are  to  be  read  in  a  similar  manner. 

The  character  of  the  selections  is  such  as  to  claim  the  attention  of  all  who 
are  in  search  of  good  reading  matter.  They  are  exciting,  instructive,  and 
interesting,  and  admirably  adapted  to  the  capacity  of  the  pupils. 

The  higher  books  of  the  series  contain  selections  from  authors  who  are 


D.    BUKGESS    &   CO.  S    PUBLICATIONS. 

considered  standards  in  their  respective  departments.  The  dignity  and 
objects  of  literature  are  distinctly  brought  to  view,  whether  in  the  form  of 
prose  to  persuade  and  instruct — in  that  of  poetry,  to  please  the  fancy — or  in 
that  of  the  drama,  to  move  the  passions. 

The  character  of  the  selections  in  these  two  books  is  such  as  to  claim  the 
attention  of  all  who  are  in  search  of  reading  matter  that  will  wear. 

The  superiority  of  these  books  is  acknowledged,  wherever  they  have 
been  brought  to  a  practical  test.  The  more  intelligent  any  school  com- 
mittee, or  teachers  are,  the  more  readily  are  these  Readers  appreciated, 
and  the  more  eagerly  are  they  sought  for  use  in  the  school-room.  So 
decided  is  the  preference  for  them,  among  the  educated,  over  every  other 
series,  that  thej'  are  gradually  but  surely  superseding  them  all,  and  going 
into  general  use  in  all  the  best  schools  in  our  country. 


Price. 

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Do.  SECOND  READER,  or  Introduction  to  Gra- 
dual Reader, 25   " 

Do.       TEIRD  READER,  or  Gradual  Reader,      .       34    " 

Do.       FOURTH  READER,  or  Sequel  to  Gradual 

Reader, 50    " 

Do.  FIFTH  READER,  or  North  American  Sec- 
ond Class  Reader, 62}  " 

Do.       SIXTH    READER,    or    North    American 

First  Class  Reader 84    " 

Do.       GRADUAL  SPELLER,  or  Complete  Enun- 

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3HHX3Z    ftllHIilS 

B  Y 

DAVID   B.  TOWER,  A.M., 

AND 

PROF.  BENJAMIN   F.  TWEED,  A.M. 


Uo 


ELEMENTS    ©  F    §  R  A  H  R3  A  ft . 

PRICE    25    CENTS. 

FIRST  LESSONS  IN  LANGUAGE;  OR,  ELEMENTS  OF  ENGLISH  GRAMMAR, 

BY 

David    B.  Tower,  A.M.,  and    Prof.  Benjamin    F.  Tweed,  A.M. 

This  little  book  was  prepared  for  beginners,  that  they  might  feel 
their  way  understandingly,  and  become  interested  in  this  sometimes 
dry  study.  This  subject  is  presented  in  a  natural  way,  avoiding  all 
unnecessary  innovations.  The  plan  is  simple  and  plain,  introduc- 
ing only  one  thing  at  a  time,  that  the  pupil  may  see  a  reason  for 
each  step,  and  thus  be  led  to  think.  It  is  concise,  that  the  whole 
subject  may  be  placed  before  the  learner  in  the  simplest  manner  and 
encumbered  by  as  few  words  for  the  memory  as  possible,  that  the 
interest  may  be  kept  up  till  he  is  master  of  the  study.  By  easy 
questions,  principles  are  deduced  from  familiar  examples  already- 
explained  for  the  sake  of  such  inferences,  that  a  clear  understanding 
of  these  principles  and  their  application  may  be  acquired,  rather 
than  the  words  used  to  explain  and  describe  them. 


C  B  fo  I  X    S 

ara@M§i*)  grammas 

'  PRICE  FIFTY-SIX    CENTS. 


GRADUAL  LESSONS  IN  GRAMMAR; 

OR,  GUIDE  TO  THE  CONSTRUCTION  OF  THE  ENGLISH  LANGUAGE  BY  THE  ANALY 
SIS  AND  COMPOSITION  OF  SENTENCES  ;  WITH  A  SEQUEL.  BY  DAVID  B. 
TOWER,  A.M.,  AND  PROF.  BENJAMIN  F.  TWEED,  A.M. 

The  first  object,  in  the  Gradual  Lessons  in  Grammar,  is  to  render  the  pupil 
familiar  with  the  different  classes  of  words,  in  the  various  relations  in 
which  they  may  be  used,  by  directing  attention  to  the  manner  in  which 
they  affect  the  meaning  of  the  sentence.  Thus  it  is  stated,  that  "  words 
used  as  names  are  nouns."  Then  follow  examples  of  the  different  kinds  of 
nouns,  and  the  pupil  is  required  to  tell  why  they  are  nouns,  and  to  write 
others,  till  he  recognizes  the  noun  wherever  it  is  found. 

The  same  course  is  then  taken  with  reference  to  the  verb,  after  which 
sentences  are  introduced  in  their  simplest  form,  containing  only  the  essential 
elements,  and  the  pupil  is  required  to  analyze  them  and  construct  similar 
(sentences. 

Then  follows  the  adjective,  and  attention  is  called  to  its  effect  on  the 
meaning  of  the  sentence.  The  statement  at  the  head  of  each  section  is  not 
to  be  committed  to  memory,  but  is  made  to  assist  the  pupil  in  appreciating 
the  grammatical  forms  of  the  sentences  which  follow.  In  this  manner,  by  the 
introduction  of  a  new  class  of  words,  or  the  use  of  the  same  class  in  a  dif- 
ferent relation,  the  sentence  is  gradually  built  up  ;  till,  from  the  most  simple, 
we  have  the  most  complex  and  involved  forms.  The  technical  terms,  denot- 
ing the  various  relations  and  modifications,  are  then  given,  with  marginal 
references  to  the  illustrations.  The  definitions  and  rules  in  the  Sequel  are 
deduced  from  illustrations  in  the  First  Part. 

The  First  Part  of  this  Grammar  has  one  peculiar  advantage.*  It  combines 
Construction  with  Analysis.  On  every  principle  developed,  written  exer- 
cises are  required  of  the  pupils,  net  only  to  insure  an  understanding  of  that 
particular  principle  and  to  perpetuate  a  knowledge  of  it,  but  also  to  furnish 
gradual  and  continued  practice  in  the  construction  of  sentences.  This 
inei  hod  of  instruction  makes  correct  writers,  as  it  regards  the  using  of  words 
'ingly  and  grammatically  in  sentences,  and  prepares  the  pupil  for 
the  task  of  composition,  by  enabling  him  to  express  his  thoughts  correctly  if  he 
has  any. 

J^"  Persons  who  wish  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  English  Grammar 
WITHOUT  A  MASTER,  will  find  these  works  of  great  service.  Sent 
singly  or  together,  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  price. 

Publishers,  No.  60  John  St.,  New- York. 


MATHEWS  BOOK-KEEPING. 


A    PRACTICAL    SYSTEM    OP 


BY 

SINGLE  AND  DOUBLE  ENTRY. 

BY  IRA  MAYHEW,  A.M. 

FOR     FARMERS,     MECHANICS,     AND     MERCHANTS. 

This  is  a  very  neat-looking  volume,  whose  title,  "  Practical  Book-keep- 
ing," is  indicative  of  its  leading  characteristics.  The  specimens  of  accounts 
presented  in  it  are  in  script  that  closely  resembles  writing,  and  they  hence 
afford  excellent  models  for  imitation.  The  book  contains  four  forms  of 
accounts,  immediately  following  each  of  which  is  a  large  number  of  exam- 
ples for  practice.  In  their  solution,  the  pupil  has  occasion  practically  to 
apply  the  knowledge  he  has  already  acquired  of  both  arithmetic  and  pen- 
manship, while  at  the  same  time  he  learns  Book-keeping  as  he  will  have 
occasion  to  practice  it  in  after  life.  For  this  purpose  a  set  of  account  books, 
in  which  the  examples  for  practice  are  to  be  written  out  by  the  learner,  and 
a  Key  for  teachers  containing  the  solution,  accompany  the  book. 

Agesilaus,  king  of  Sparta,  being  asked  what  things  he  thought  most  proper 
for  boys  to  learn,  very  appropriately  replied,  "  Those  things  which  they 
should  practice  when  they  become  men."  Ever  since  it  was  said  to  Adam, 
"In  the  sweat  of  thy  face  shalt  thou  eat  bread,"  there  has  been  a  necessity 
laid  upon  man  not  only  to  labor,  but  to  exchange  with  others  the  products 
of  his  industry,  in  order  to  secure  a  comfortable  support.  Excepting  mer- 
chants, mechanics,  and  professional  men,  very  few,  comparatively,  keep  any 
accounts.  The  principal  reason  for  this  is  found  in  the  fact,  that  when 
young  they  were  not  taught  how  to  do  so,  and  the  necessity  of  its  being 
done.  Considerations  are  presented,  in  tin-  Introduction  to  this  work,  to 
Bhow  some  of  the  many  advantages  that  would  result  to  individuals  and  to 
the  community  from  making  Book-keeping  a  common  study,  and  the  design 
of  the  present  work  is  to  furnish  a  practical  system  of  popular  Book -keep- 
ing, which  may  meet  the  wants  of  the  great  majority  of  the  American 
people.  . 

Sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  to  any  part  of  the  country,  on  re<:wpfc  of  37^ 

cts.    Blanks,  50  cts.       Daniel  Burgess  &  Co., 

P u  blinkers,  GO  John  St.,  JVeio-York, 


GEOGRAPHY  FOR  THE  MILLION. 


ACCOMPANIED  BY  A  LARGE  AND  VALUABLE 


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DANIEL  BURGESS  &  Co., 

PUBLISHERS,  NO.  60  JOHN  ST.,  N.  T 


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Address, 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  CO.,  Publishers, 

No.  60  John  Street,  New-York 


lllgfflll  I  ill  Hi  I 

CONTAINING 

RULES  AND  SELECTIONS 

FOR 
WITH 

FIGURES  ILLUSTRATIVE  OF  GESTURE,  ETC, 
BY  RUFUS  CLAGGETT,  A.M. 


This  book  is  given  to  the  public  with  a  view  to  encourage  the 
study  and  practice  of  a  branch  of  education  which  gives  a  tenfold 
vigor  to  all  other  intellectual  acquirements.  Thousands  of  men, 
otherwise  well  educated,  are  often  heard  to  lament  their  neglect  of 
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to  utter  in  public  those  thoughts  which  they  would  gladly  dissemi- 
nate, and  thereby  confer  a  benefit  on  society. 

The  Selections  in  this  work  are  principally  from  standard  Ameri- 
can authors,  and  contain  everything  which  can  ennoble  the  mind 
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find  its  way. 

NOTICES. 

From  the  Brooklyn  Evening  Star. 
Mr.  Claggett,  the  author  of  this  work  on  Elocution,  has  well  performed 
his  task,  giving  evidence  on  every  page  of  his  familiarity  with  the  subject, 
lie  has  prepared  several  rules  easily  understood  and  applied,  and  appended 
forty-eight  figures  illustrative  of  gestures.  The  selections,  both  in  prose  and 
poetry,  are  carefully  made  with  reference  to  the  object  of  the  work.  Wo 
6hould  like  to  see  the  work  in  daily  use  in  our  schools. 

From  the  New-  York  Express. 
The  whole  theory  and  practice  of  the  art  of  Elocution  is  so  dissected  and 
simplified,  that  the  pupil  cannot  fail  to  get  a  thorough  understanding  of  the 
subject. 

Sent  by  mail,  post-paid,  on  receipt  of  30  cents. 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  CO.,  PUBLISHERS.. 

No.  60  John  Street,  New-York. 


A  BOOK  FOR  EVERY  CARPENTER. 

IJMst-CarpnUrs'  iiitJr  Joiners'  Assistant 

BY  LUCIUS  D.  GOULD,  ARCHITECT. 

A    NEW    AND    EASY    SYSTEM    OF    INSTRUCTION,    ESPECIALLY     ADAPTED    TO   THE 
WANTS  OP  THIS   COUNTRY. 

The  Publishers  respectfully  ask  the  attention  of  the  Public  to  this  work, 
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GOULD'S  AMERICAN  HOUSE-CARPENTERS  AND  JOINER'S  ASSISTANT 

Places  within  the  reach  of  a  Carpenter,  with  no  other  necessary  preparation 
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tables  of  the  weight  and  cohesive  strength  of  the  different  materials  used  in 
the  construction  of  buildings,  and  a 

COMPLETE  TREATISE  ON  MATHEMATICAL  INSTRUMENTS, 
Making  the  reader  familiar  with  the  tools  of  his  study.     The  work  is 

PROFUSELY  ILLUSTRATED  BY  ACCURATE  AND  BEAUTIFUL  PLATES, 

And  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  Carpenter  and  Joiner  whose  ambition 
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A  new  edition  just  out.     Send  and  get  a  copy. 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  Co., 

Publishers,  No.  60  John-st.,  New-York. 


THE 

Pt€TWEt. 


This  new  style  of  Pictures  which  are  soon  destined  to  supercede 
the  far-famed 


Are  taken  in  all  their  wonderful  perfection  by 

N".    G-.    BURGESS, 

At  his  Rooms,  No.  293  BROADWAY,  New- York. 

All  persons  who  may  wish  to  see  their  Portraits  True  to  Life,  will 
do  well  to  call  at  his  Gallery,  and  procure  one  of  these  new  glass  pic- 
tures known  as 

^  im  'nS  'v?a  f»  1L  %  'ns  'ia  w  a 

The  perfection  «o  which  this  Art  is  brought,  has  induced  the  Subscri- 
ber to  bestow  more  than  usual  pains  on  this  branch  of  Photography,  and 
he  is  now  without  a  rival  in  the  profession. 

These  Ambro types  are  sealed  with  a  durable  cement,  which  renders 
them  perfectly  impervious  to  air,  and  even  water  itself.  They  are 
therefore 

IMPERISHABLE. 

This  fact  alone  will  recommend  them  before  all  other  pictures  taken 
by  the  Sun's  rays,  added  to  which  is  their  wonderful  truthfulness,  being 
taken  without  reversal  as  in  the  ordinary  Daguerreotype,  and  capable  of 
being  viewed  in  any  angle  of  light. 

Taken  in  Colors— of  various  sizes  up  to  the  SIZE  OF  LIFE. 
Pupils  taught  the  Art  of  Ambrotyping  and  Photography  with  the 
greatest  care,  and  warranted  success. 
All  the  various  Chemicals  used  in  the  Art  for  Sale. 

innstsr  A»»jMDirwi  couasmm. 

A  new  and  Superior  article — with  full  directions  for  use. 

CHLORIDE    OF    GOLD, 
For  Daguerreotype  purposes,  and  Photographs.     The  former  has  been 
made  by  the  Subscriber  for  the  past  twelve  years,  and  has  gained  a 
world  wide  reputation.     Please  address 

UST.    Gr.    BUEGESS, 

Photographic  Rooms,  No.  293  BROADWAY,  New- York. 

French.  German,  Spanish,  and  Italian  languages  spoken  at  the  rooms. 


KkKsS  SSSSOJ 


205  00408  6201 
TOWER'S  ELEMENTS  OF  GRAMMAR. 


TEXT-BOOK 

n<  THB 

PUBLIC  GRAMMAR  SCHOOLS 

OP 

BOSTON  AND  NEW-YORK  CITIES, 

A.VD  RXCOMMBfDED  BT  THB 

State  School  Commissioners  of  New  Hampshire. 


The  favor  with  which  this  little  book  has  been  recelTed 
by  the  public,  and  the  success  with  which  it  has  been  used 
in  schools,  have  been  remarkable.  Its  design  is  to  lessen 
the  difficulties  which  the  young  scholar  invariably  experi- 
ences on  his  first  induction  into  the  study  of  Grammar. 
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leads  him  upward  in  an  agreeable  aud  attractive  manner, 
until  he  is  able  to  pursue  a  more  comprehensive  plan  of 
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this  manner  enabled  to  teach  many  things  in  succession. 
To  teachers  it  will  be  of  great  convenience  and  utility,  and 
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«7fcV.~5 ^^cSft^cKvSs  /•Yont  the  North  American  Review. 

' 'K'J^'^f >'X*i/^2s8        "  O111  schools  suffer  no  imposition  so  egregious  aa  In  the 
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M?c^Vf5l?^V?&fz?<?    carefully  analyzed.    Its  rules  of  syntax  are  few,  concise, 
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^^^SwI&^SwIra?    pupil  of  Bcvcn  or  eight  years  of  ago." 

Price  25  cents.    Copies  sent  by  mail,  postago  paid,  on 
?    receipt  of  price  to  the  Publishers. 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  CO., 

60  John  Street,  N.  T. 


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A  PRACTICAL  SYSTEM  OF  BOOK-KEEPING, 

BY  SINGLE  AND  DOUBLE  ENTRY, 
BY  IRA  MAYHEW,  A.  M., 

Author  of  a  Treatise  on  "  Popular  Education."  and  Super- 
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receipt  of  price  to  the  Publishers,  Wv.^vXWX'v^^ 

DANIEL  BURGESS  &  CO., 

CO  Jolui  Street,  Wew-Yovk. 

Our  Illustrated  Catalogue  sent  to  any  address,  post  paid. 


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■1^V->l?X' 


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